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. It's nearly 170 million years old. It's more than 2.5 times the size of Earth. And it's the first exoplanet discovered and cataloged by researchers with the Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR). https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mega-earth-gj-523b-massive.html Astronomy Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:40:04 EDT news706181881 Neptune's moon and ring system stand out among the giant planets because of the strange imbalance between its one very large moon and its many tiny moons. Its largest moon, Triton, makes up more than 99% of the mass of all satellites orbiting the planet while orbiting retrograde compared with Neptune's rotation. The predominant theory is that Triton is a captured Kuiper Belt object that caused a major disruption in Neptune's early moon system. Now, a new study published in Science Advances provides spectroscopic evidence to support this theory. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-neptune-tiny-moons-story-triton.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:20:01 EDT news704628891 Diamond is more than a dazzling gem—the extremely hard form of carbon makes up the pellet that encases fuel for inertial confinement fusion, and scientists believe it rains down deep inside ice giant planets like Neptune and Uranus. In both cases, the material experiences enormous pressures. Until now, experiments and simulations have disagreed about how it actually behaves under those conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-diamond-triple-fusion-gain-secrets.html General Physics Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:40:05 EDT news705836281 A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) provides evidence that liquid nitrogen is rising to Pluto's surface through cracks at the northern edge of Sputnik Planitia, part of the massive heart-shaped glacier on the dwarf planet's surface. This is the first evidence of liquid flow occurring recently on Pluto. The study is based on data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft and led by SwRI Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-liquid-nitrogen-pluto-heart-glacier.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:00:05 EDT news705225241 Inspired by naturally occurring mats and balls of seaweed, researchers have created highly porous, superadhesive meshes capable of capturing both large and small microplastic particles—a longstanding challenge in the field. The mesh can clean microplastics from both saltwater and freshwater and is made from sustainable, widely available biopolymers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tangled-seaweed-size-cleaners-ocean.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:11 EDT news705069181 In 1989, the Voyager 2 mission discovered six new moons orbiting Neptune, including five tiny ones that orbit just outside the planet's main rings. Because of their small sizes and locations, these satellites have been difficult to study from Earth. Now, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of Caltech researchers has observed Neptune's rings and three of those moons—Larissa, Galatea and Proteus—and found that their composition is unique among outer solar system bodies. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-neptune-moons-shattered-ancient-icy.html Space Exploration Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:00:06 EDT news704623381 Mercury was long considered the exception to the rule that magnetic planets have radiation belts similar to Earth's Van Allen belts, but a new study by University of Michigan Engineering and the University of California, Berkeley, suggests otherwise—Mercury occasionally has such a layer of radiation in its magnetic field. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-mercury-reveals-short-belts-sun.html Astronomy Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:40:06 EDT news704381641 Researchers in the U.S. have carried out the most stringent tests to date of the idea that an ultraviolet glow in the atmospheres of giant planets could partly arise through the indirect interaction between dark matter and ordinary matter. Led by Carlos Blanco at Penn State University and Rebecca Leane at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the team's results place some of the tightest constraints yet on the strength of this interaction. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-giant-planets-dark-detectors.html Astronomy Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:20:06 EDT news703496425 Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a giant planet outside our solar system, called an exoplanet, hiding within one of the most intensely studied planetary systems in the Milky Way galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-webb-telescope-hidden-planet-famous.html Astronomy Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:40:03 EDT news703405527 The planets that appear most common in the universe could have a lot of water—but it could be hiding where telescopes can't detect it, according to a new study led by scientists with the University of Chicago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-distant-exoplanets-webb-telescope.html Astronomy Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703166987 Sub-Neptunes are the most common type of planet in our galaxy. Bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, these worlds remain deeply mysterious because scientists still do not know what they are made of. What astronomers really want to figure out is their interior composition. They could be rocky planets wrapped in hydrogen-rich atmospheres, or they could be volatile-rich worlds loaded with water or carbon-bearing molecules. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-astronomers-reveal-clouds-hidden-interiors.html Astronomy Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:00:03 EDT news702888098 Within their planetary systems, stars are continuously shaping their orbiting planets through gravity, radiation and magnetic forces. So far, this relationship has appeared to be a one-way street. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-giant-exoplanet-magnetic-host-star.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 29 Jun 2026 07:40:01 EDT news701696940 A new look at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy by Euclid, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with NASA contributions, overlaps with a region scientists will observe with NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching later this summer. This sneak peek gives astronomers a major jumpstart on a core Roman survey, helping scientists learn more than they could from either telescope alone. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-euclid-mission-view-milky-heart.html Astronomy Wed, 24 Jun 2026 18:50:04 EDT news701540581 A team of astronomers, led by Brooke Kotten of the University of Michigan, has shown that TOI-5882—a sunlike star located some 1,300 light-years away—has likely eaten one of its planets. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-lithium-spike-reveals-sun-star.html Astronomy Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:40:02 EDT news700746421 Using the Subaru Telescope, astronomers have conducted follow-up observations of a recently discovered exoplanet known as TOI-1883 b. Results of the new observations, published June 5 on the arXiv preprint server, indicate that TOI-1883 b is a low-density super-Neptune. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-puffy-super-neptune-emerges-years.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:00:04 EDT news700453179 The astronauts circling Earth on the Artemis mission sent back beautiful clear photos of the continents, clouds, and oceans. But we might be the exception. Many planets in the universe may be hazed in clouds of soot, according to a new study by University of Chicago scientists. Their analysis explains a curious trend seen by astronomers training telescopes on distant planets beyond our own solar system. Many of these worlds had atmospheres that returned strangely featureless readings. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-mini-neptune-exoplanets-smoggy-atmospheres.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:20:04 EDT news699615422 Our solar system has two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, but there may have been a third. According to a new study published in the journal Icarus, this extra world might have triggered a violent planetary shuffling billions of years ago that could have disrupted some of Jupiter's and Uranus's moons and possibly led to the formation of others. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-planets-solar.html Astronomy Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:00:05 EDT news699524109 Neptune's far-flung moon Nereid may be the last of the planet's original companions that managed to survive a cosmic crash, scientists reported Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-neptune-mysterious-moon-nereid-survivor.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 20 May 2026 15:55:54 EDT news698511286 Across the Milky Way galaxy, a planetary odd couple is circling a star some 190 light years from Earth. A normally "lonely" hot Jupiter is sharing space with a mini-Neptune, in a rare and unlikely pairing that's had astronomers puzzled since the system's discovery in 2020. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-jwst-pins-planetary-odd-couple.html Astronomy Tue, 05 May 2026 12:00:01 EDT news697196142 A team of professional and amateur Japanese astronomers have found evidence for a thin atmosphere around a small body in the outer solar system. The object is so small that it should not have a sustainable atmosphere, raising questions about when and how the atmosphere formed. Future observations to better characterize the atmosphere will help solve these mysteries. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-world-neptune-atmosphere-shouldnt.html Astronomy Mon, 04 May 2026 11:00:09 EDT news697097941 Astronomers now estimate there is at least one planet for every star in our galaxy. These worlds, called exoplanets, are planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. But new research from McMaster University reveals a surprising twist: the most common planets in our galaxy don't exist around the most common stars. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-common-planets-galaxy-dont-stars.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:20:04 EDT news696680521 The interiors of ice giant planets like Uranus and Neptune could be home to a previously unknown state of matter, according to new computational simulations by Carnegie's Cong Liu and Ronald Cohen. Their work, published in Nature Communications, predicts that a quasi-one-dimensional superionic state of carbon hydride exists under the extreme pressures and temperatures found deep inside these outer solar system bodies. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-depths-neptune-uranus-superionic.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:00:01 EDT news694435981 Using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern Hemisphere (HARPS-N), an international team of astronomers has discovered a hot sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a nearby star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-5734 b, is about two times larger and nine times more massive than Earth. The discovery was presented in a research paper published February 20 on the arXiv pre-print server. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-astronomers-toi-hot-neptune-earth.html Astronomy Wed, 04 Mar 2026 08:00:03 EST news691753161 An international team of astronomers has discovered a distant planetary system that challenges long-standing theories of how planets form. Across our galaxy, astronomers routinely observe a characteristic pattern in planetary systems: rocky planets orbiting close to their host star with gas giants farther away. Our own solar system follows this rule, with the inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, composed of rock and iron, and the outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune being predominantly gaseous. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-cosmic-curveball-distant-planet-formation.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 21 Feb 2026 14:10:01 EST news690214027 While killer whales (Orcinus orca) can trigger the immediate departure of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), extended absences from their aggregation sites are also part of the sharks' natural behavior, new research reveals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-twelve-year-tracking-killer-whales.html Ecology Wed, 18 Feb 2026 06:50:42 EST news690619743 Recent research suggests that Saturn's bright rings and its largest moon, Titan, may have both originated in collisions among its moons. While Cassini's 13-year mission expanded our understanding of Saturn, the discoveries of its young rings and Titan's rapidly shifting orbit have raised new questions. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-saturn-moon-titan-merger-moons.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:45:27 EST news690050701 Through a combination of high-pressure experiments and optical spectroscopy, physicists have revealed new insights into the structural forms of solid methane. Led by Mengnan Wang at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, the team hopes their results, published in Physical Review Letters, could dispel long-standing confusion over where these different forms appear within methane's phase diagram—potentially deepening our understanding of planetary interiors. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-solid-methane.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 10:00:01 EST news689247706 Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new extrasolar planet orbiting a sun-like star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-3862 b, turns out to be a dense super-Neptune exoplanet. The finding is reported in a paper published Jan. 15 on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-astronomers-dense-super-neptune-exoplanet.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:10:01 EST news688280029 Astronomers have, for the first time, captured a detailed snapshot of planetary systems in an era long shrouded in mystery. The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS), using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has produced the sharpest images ever of 24 debris disks, the dusty belts left after planets finish forming. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-alma-reveals-teenage-years-worlds.html Astronomy Tue, 20 Jan 2026 02:00:01 EST news688046158 Superionic water—the hot, black and strangely conductive form of ice that exists in the center of distant planets—was predicted in the 1980s and first recreated in a laboratory in 2018. With each closer look, it continues to surprise researchers. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-simultaneous-superionic-ice-giant-magnetic.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 08 Jan 2026 14:50:03 EST news687105907