Comets as a research area encompass the multidisciplinary study of small icy bodies in the Solar System, focusing on their composition, physical properties, dynamics, and role in planetary system formation and evolution. This field integrates observational astronomy, spectroscopy, celestial mechanics, laboratory astrophysics, and space mission data to characterize volatile and refractory components, dust-gas interactions, nucleus structure, coma and tail formation, and outgassing processes. Research addresses orbital evolution, non-gravitational forces, and reservoirs such as the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, with implications for understanding primordial Solar System materials, delivery of volatiles and organics to terrestrial planets, and comparative planetology.
Have you ever been out at night and seen a streak of light blast across the sky and disappear? Ever wonder where that shooting star came from, or how it got to be in your sky?
Astronomy
10 hours ago
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4
After six months of radio silence, NASA's Maven spacecraft around Mars has been declared dead.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 3, 2026
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Asteroid mining seems simple in theory. A spacecraft flies up to a giant rock in space, scoops out some material, and either processes it on site or returns it back to a huge central processing facility. But in practice, ...
Space Exploration
May 19, 2026
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The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) instruments aboard ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft and NASA's Europa Clipper made unique observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS ...
Planetary Sciences
May 13, 2026
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85
If you've ever taken an introductory astronomy class, you've probably seen the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. This graph maps out the life cycle of stars by plotting their temperature against their luminosity, and has ...
Astronomy
May 12, 2026
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47
The comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet to gel into its own solar system, astronomers reported Thursday.
Astronomy
May 9, 2026
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The Eta Aquarid meteor shower soon will light the sky with debris from Halley's comet. But a bright moon will spoil the fun this year, making the display harder to glimpse.
Space Exploration
May 3, 2026
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26
New observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS include the first measurement of the abundance of deuterated water relative to ordinary water in an interstellar object. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter ...
Astronomy
Apr 23, 2026
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127
NASA's Curiosity rover has identified seven new organic compounds on the planet Mars, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
Astrobiology
Apr 23, 2026
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63
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is now on its way out of our solar system, never to return. The comet was only the third-ever detected object to originate from outside our solar system. Traveling at high speeds, it looped around ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
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