https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The first few billion years of Earth's history saw the rise of life, the atmosphere and the oceans. Still, that time is shrouded in mystery: Not many rocks remain that preserve a record of those early iterations of our modern world. Dynamic geologic processes like erosion, subduction and burial mean the surface is constantly being reshaped, and older rocks aren't very common. But that time period is critical to understanding our own origins and how catastrophic events like asteroid impacts might have affected early life on the planet. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-billion-year-asteroid-impact.html Earth Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:00:06 EDT news700233527 MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-satellites-small-briefcase-space-lot.html Space Exploration Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT news699610981 A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metal asteroid swings past Mars this week for a gravity boost, snapping thousands of pictures as practice for the main encounter in 2029. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nasa-psyche-spacecraft-mars-rare.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 14 May 2026 13:13:00 EDT news697983111 NASA's Psyche spacecraft will get a boost from Mars on Friday, May 15, passing just 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the planet's surface at some 12,333 mph (19,848 kph). The spacecraft will harness the planet's gravitational pull to speed up and adjust its trajectory toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, one of the more unusual objects in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mars-reshape-nasa-psyche-journey.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 09 May 2026 08:48:13 EDT news697535243 Using preliminary data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids. The data were confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC), making this the largest single batch of asteroid discoveries submitted in the past year. The discoveries were made using data from Rubin's early optimization surveys and offer a powerful preview of the observatory's transformative impact on solar system science. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-early-vera-rubin-observatory-reveals.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:40:04 EDT news694359721 New observations by a team of US astronomers have cast fresh doubt on whether the lunar surface could host abundant water ice. Publishing their results in Science Advances, a team led by Shuai Li at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has shown that relatively pure ice (making up more than about 20–30% of the surface material) is likely absent from the moon's permanently shadowed regions. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-shadowcam-abundant-lunar-ice.html Astronomy Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:20:03 EDT news693221849 Even 200 years after asteroid 16 Psyche was discovered, astronomers continue to puzzle over its formation. Psyche is the 10th-most massive asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the largest known metallic asteroid, at 140 miles in diameter. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-large-craters-clues-asteroid-psyche.html Astronomy Tue, 17 Mar 2026 07:00:02 EDT news692946841 A thick layer of haze around the ultra-low-density planet Kepler-51d likely obscures not only the strange planet's composition, but also its origin, according to a new study. A team led by Penn State researchers used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a deeper look at the "super-puff" planet that defies planetary formation models. However, the thickest layer of haze found on a planet yet makes discerning the chemical elements in the planet's atmosphere—and any clues to the planet's formation—challenging. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-lowest-density-super-puff-planet.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Mar 2026 14:40:01 EDT news692884502 When people think of asteroids, they tend to picture rare, civilization-ending impacts like those depicted in movies such as "Armageddon." In reality, the asteroids most likely to affect modern society are much smaller. While kilometer-scale impacts occur only every tens of millions of years, decameter-scale (building-sized) objects strike Earth far more frequently: roughly every couple decades. As astronomers develop new ways to detect and track these smaller asteroids, planetary defense becomes increasingly relevant for protecting the space-based infrastructure that underpins modern life, from GPS navigation to global communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-astronomers-discuss-fortifying-planetary-defenses.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:16:42 EDT news692529327 Astronomers have long debated why so many icy objects in the outer solar system look like snowmen. Michigan State University researchers now have evidence of the surprisingly simple process that could be responsible for their creation. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-space-snowmen-gravitational-collapse-contact.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Feb 2026 14:00:15 EST news690567661 Most near-Earth asteroids are thought to drift in from the main asteroid belt. But a small subset may have a much closer origin: the moon. One intriguing example is 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), an Earth quasi-satellite whose reported spectrum resembles lunar material and which is a target of China's Tianwen-2 sample-return mission. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-rubin-survey-underway-simulations-lunar.html Astronomy Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:18:07 EST news689256956 Astronomers analyzing data from Vera C. Rubin Observatory have discovered the fastest-ever spinning asteroid with a diameter over half a kilometer—a feat uniquely enabled by Rubin. The study provides crucial information about asteroid composition and evolution, and demonstrates how Rubin is pushing the boundaries of what we can discover within our own solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-vera-rubin-observatory-asteroid-pre.html Astronomy Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:28:23 EST news687018482 Much remains to be known about the chemical composition of small asteroids. Their potential to harbor valuable metals, materials from the early solar system, and the possibility of obtaining a geochemical record of their parent bodies makes them promising candidates for future use of space resources. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-feasibility-asteroid.html Space Exploration Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:38:24 EST news684592668 Observations with the instrument SPHERE at ESO's Very Large Telescope have produced an unprecedented gallery of "debris disks" in exoplanetary systems. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-debris-disk-gallery-tale-asteroids.html Astronomy Wed, 03 Dec 2025 03:00:02 EST news683911862 When a meteor streaks across the sky, it's not just beautiful. It's nature's way of delivering a time capsule to Earth. Contained within are hints about the very beginning of the solar system and how planets, including our own, formed. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-meteorite-samples-capsules-early-solar.html Astrobiology Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:20:02 EST news683212821 Whether an asteroid is spinning neatly on its axis or tumbling chaotically, and how fast it is doing so, has been shown to be dependent on how frequently it has experienced collisions. The findings, presented at the recent EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki, are based on data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission and provide a means of determining an asteroid's physical properties—information that is vital for successfully deflecting asteroids on a collision course with Earth. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-gaia-mystery-asteroids-probe-interiors.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:30:07 EDT news678457179 An international study led by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil has identified a little-known but potentially significant threat: Asteroids that share Venus's orbit and may completely escape current observational campaigns because of their position in the sky. These objects have not yet been observed, but they could strike Earth within a few thousand years. Their impacts could devastate large cities. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-invisible-asteroids-venus-threaten-earth.html Astronomy Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:35:04 EDT news677864102 Everyone who has ever lived on Earth has been well-aware of the moon, but it turns out Earth also has some frequent temporary companions. These "quasi-moons" are small asteroids that enter into a kind of resonance with Earth's orbit, although they aren't technically orbiting Earth. In August, this small group of asteroids, called Arjunas, offered another companion to add to the list. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-scientists-quasi-moon-orbiting-earth.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:40:18 EDT news676718992 Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the highest resolution image to date, revealing new insights into the unusual and mysterious architecture of the debris disk encircling Fomalhaut, one of the brightest and most well-studied stars in our cosmic neighborhood. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-fomalhaut-star-warped-evidence-sculpting.html Astronomy Fri, 05 Sep 2025 10:50:01 EDT news676287310 Earth is so far the only known planet on which life exists—with liquid water and a stable atmosphere. However, the conditions were not conducive to life when it formed. The gas-dust cloud from which all the planets in the solar system formed was rich in volatile elements essential for life, such as hydrogen, carbon and sulfur. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-collision-life-earth-space.html Astrobiology Thu, 28 Aug 2025 11:31:03 EDT news675599461 Asteroid Bennu—the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, led by the University of Arizona—is a mixture of materials from throughout, and even beyond, our solar system. Over the past few billion years, its unique and varied contents have been transformed by interactions with water and the harsh space environment. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-asteroid-bennu-capsule-materials-witness.html Astronomy Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:38:04 EDT news675077881 New NASA research has found that Ceres may have had a lasting source of chemical energy: the right types of molecules needed to fuel some microbial metabolisms. Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the finding supports theories that this intriguing dwarf planet, which is the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may have once had conditions suitable to support single-celled lifeforms. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-ceres-energy-fuel-habitability.html Astrobiology Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:56:03 EDT news674927761 A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) review of data collected from near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu supports the hypothesis that they were originally part of the Polana collisional family in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-spectral-analysis-asteroids-bennu-ryugu.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 18 Aug 2025 12:14:03 EDT news674738041 On July 1, astronomers spotted an unusual high-speed object zooming towards the sun. Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, the surprising space traveler had one very special quality: its orbit showed it had come from outside our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-latest-interstellar-comet-alien-probe.html Astronomy Wed, 23 Jul 2025 08:47:22 EDT news672479211 For the first time, international researchers have pinpointed the moment when planets began to form around a star beyond the sun. Using the ALMA telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, and the James Webb Space Telescope, they have observed the creation of the first specks of planet-forming material—hot minerals just beginning to solidify. This finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage in its formation and opens a window to the past of our own solar system. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-cosmic-baby-astronomers-witness-dawn.html Astronomy Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:00:16 EDT news671729512 A small, inconspicuous meteorite may be about to change our understanding of how and when our solar system formed. Tiny shavings from the meteorite Northwest Africa 12264 are challenging the long-held belief that planets near the sun formed earlier than those beyond the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-meteorite-timeline-early-solar.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 07 Jul 2025 11:05:40 EDT news671105129 Most meteorites that have reached Earth come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But we have 1,000 or so meteorites that come from the moon and Mars. This is probably a result of asteroids hitting their surfaces and ejecting material toward our planet. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-mystery-mercury-meteorites.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:29:04 EDT news670087741 A group of astronomers from across the globe, including a team from the University of Washington and led by Queen's University Belfast, have revealed new research showing that millions of new solar system objects will be detected by a brand-new facility, which is expected to come online later in 2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-rubin-observatory-millions-solar-vivid.html Astronomy Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:29:18 EDT news668251752 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and elsewhere have detected water ice in a debris disk around HD 181327—a young star located within 160 light years away from the Earth. The finding was reported in a paper published May 14 in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-ice-debris-disk-young-nearby.html Astronomy Mon, 26 May 2025 09:41:08 EDT news667471259 Analyzing gravity data collected by spacecraft orbiting other worlds reveals groundbreaking insights about planetary structures without having to land on the surface. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-reveal-hidden-secrets-interiors-moon.html Astronomy Wed, 14 May 2025 13:20:01 EDT news666447010