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. In the deepest region of the Earth's mantle, just above the core, much of the material consists of crystals of magnesium oxide. In larger rocky exoplanets called super-Earths, the higher pressures in the lower mantle may drive magnesium oxide to transform into a new high-pressure crystal structure or a metallic, electrically conductive liquid that generates a magnetic field. And in gas giants, magnesium oxide could exist in the cores themselves. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mineral-planets-reveals-lesson.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 23 Oct 2026 03:42:44 EDT news711945720 The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has discovered its first previously unknown comet in images taken between Sept. 16 and 24, 2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-euclid-comet-million-miles-earth.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:20:01 EDT news711626041 The ocean beneath Saturn's moon Enceladus lies under kilometers of ice, but some of its contents do reach the surface. Jets near the south pole spray out water vapor and icy particles, offering a way to investigate the hidden ocean without drilling down to it. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-salt-crystals-clues-life-beneath.html Astrobiology Sat, 17 Oct 2026 11:40:01 EDT news711288914 The fate of our solar system is written in the stars—well, one star to be precise: the sun. Estimates of what the end will look like once the sun sheds much of its mass and ultimately dies vary widely. New research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests that the final curtain for some of the outer planets will arrive much sooner than previously thought, shrinking the timeline from a quintillion years down to roughly 1 billion years. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-dying-sun-solar-sooner-thought.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:20:06 EDT news711029532 NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the universe, Epoch of Reionization, and ices Explorer) space telescope is shedding light on brown dwarfs, celestial objects that blur the line between stars and exoplanets. New findings published in The Astrophysical Journal show that these dark and cloudy worlds have chemically rich atmospheres not unlike the giant planets in our own solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spherex-menagerie-brown-dwarfs-atmospheric.html Astronomy Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:20:05 EDT news710755921 Saturn's icy moon Enceladus hides a global ocean beneath its frozen surface. From fractures near its south pole, material from this ocean is ejected into space as a plume of water vapor and ice particles. These particles offer scientists a rare opportunity to investigate an extraterrestrial ocean without drilling through kilometers of ice. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-enceladus-ocean-spray-chemically-diverse.html Astrobiology Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709890049 New research led by the University of Michigan is helping set the stage for future observatories to characterize rocky planets outside our solar system, planets that could prove life isn't confined to Earth. The new research represents the most sensitive modern search for giant planets in a nearby binary system—a system with two stars orbiting each other—known as 70 Ophiuchi AB, or 70 Oph AB. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-suns-giant-planets-nearby-binary.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:20:06 EDT news709903801 Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have rewritten a small part of Oklahoma's geologic history with global implications for ancient life. Below the surface of the small town of Ames, Oklahoma, a meteor impact site spans miles. The crater is buried by sedimentary strata in the subsurface, but it remains an important marker of Oklahoma's ancient past and present-day economy; the Ames impact structure is a major oil and gas producer. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-meteor-oklahoma-million-years-previously.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:50:01 EDT news709834441 What are the chances of finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system? Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary science at Freie Universität Berlin, has published a study in Science Advances with an international team of researchers. They present new evidence that it is easier to determine the constituents of the ocean hidden beneath Enceladus's icy surface than previously assumed. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-great-news-saturn-moon-enceladus.html Astrobiology Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:21 EDT news709396040 Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of astronomers led by the University of Maryland identified water, methane and ammonia in the atmosphere of HATS-6 b, a giant planet 500 light-years from Earth. The observations also revealed that HATS-6 b may be significantly cooler than standard calculations predict—suggesting that the planet's relationship with its star may be far more complicated than previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-webb-ammonia-unexpected-chill-distant.html Astronomy Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:40:05 EDT news709549202 In recent decades, astronomers have reconstructed a fairly complete scenario for planet formation, from minute dust motes clumping together to the emergence of rocky spheres thousands of kilometers across, like Earth, or larger gas giants like Jupiter. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-astronomers-capture-unprecedented-view-gas.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 24 Sep 2026 11:20:10 EDT news709460400 Many of the moons orbiting Saturn, Uranus and Neptune likely conceal oceans of liquid water beneath miles of icy shell. Because life as we know it needs water, these buried oceans rank among the most promising places to search for life beyond Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scientists-simulate-cosmic-icy-moons.html Astrobiology Sat, 19 Sep 2026 07:00:06 EDT news708960640 Until just over a decade ago, ring systems were thought to be exclusive to the giant planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. However, in 2013, a small body barely 250 kilometers (155 miles) in diameter, located at nearly 17 times the Earth–sun distance, joined this small group. The object is Chariklo, a small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, around which astronomers discovered two dense rings. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-jwst-chariklo-invisible.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:00:04 EDT news708089366 Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists used simulations to understand the role disruptive impacts play on icy moons with subsurface oceans in our solar system. A recent paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy concludes that disruptive impacts can affect the presence and persistence of subsurface oceans in these moons but do not seem to create new oceans. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-giant-impacts-small-icy-moons.html Astrobiology Tue, 08 Sep 2026 15:40:10 EDT news708093484 Recent observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a giant, evolving, 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling Saturn's south pole. This discovery marks the first time a large, regular-sided jet pattern has been observed in the planet's southern hemisphere. The feature appears remarkably similar to Saturn's famous hexagon at its north pole but is also distinctly different, suggesting scientists may be witnessing a new atmospheric phenomenon developing on the iconic gas giant. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-hubble-tracks-decagon-encircling-saturn.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:40:07 EDT news707580122 More than 3 billion miles (4.8 billion kilometers) from Earth, an ancient icy object is slowly awakening. As it drifts inward through the solar system, the frozen body known as Centaur 450P/LONEOS has begun releasing gas and dust—behavior more commonly associated with comets than with centaurs, the small icy objects that typically orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-saturn-encounter-distant-centaur-path.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:00:04 EDT news707499541 Saturn's moon Enceladus sports a thick shell of ice surrounding a liquid water ocean. As though scraped by an enormous claw, four parallel cracks slash across its south pole. Each about 500 meters (1,600 feet) deep, 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across and 130 kilometers (81 miles) long, the fissures spew water vapor and other materials from the subsurface ocean directly into space. But the origin of these "tiger stripes" is mysterious. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ocean-motion-enceladus-tiger-stripes.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:20:15 EDT news706960681 Planets form from disks of gas and dust around young stars, but the gas needed for growth does not last forever. New observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) now offer a new view of how this gas escapes and how the process changes as young planetary systems develop. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-jwst-reveals-planets.html Astronomy Tue, 25 Aug 2026 17:50:01 EDT news706897742 Sometimes images are released before anyone realizes they have been photobombed, meaning something unexpected showed up in the background. A team of researchers found a naked photobombing comet in publicly available archival data from the Subaru Telescope, resulting not in mirth but in serious scientific discoveries. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-naked-photobombing-comet-image.html Astronomy Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:20:05 EDT news706874587 Astronomers have discovered the fastest known star in our galaxy, the Milky Way, orbiting the black hole at its center. The star, named S301, was detected with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO's VLTI) and reaches speeds of 25,000 km/s (15,500 miles per second) as it travels around the four-million-solar-mass black hole. It comes closer to it than any other star observed before, so close that it feels the effects of the black hole's rotation. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fastest-milky-star-supermassive-black.html Astronomy Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:00:01 EDT news706201660 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 High-energy particles in Earth's radiation belt can appear to spread out randomly, even when they are moving in a "predictable" way. This is because spacecraft observations naturally blur the fine-scale structure of the particle population, a new study reveals. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spacecraft-conceal-particles-earth-space.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:20:06 EDT news705226201 Researchers from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory (NSF NSO), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, and the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) in the U.S. have made a discovery in solar physics. New images of the sun's surface taken with the world's largest solar telescope, the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by the NSO in Hawaii, along with sophisticated computer simulations, reveal tiny plasma vortices that had never before been visible. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tiny-vortices-sun-surface.html General Physics Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:00:01 EDT news705066601 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 Controlling light within microscopic spaces is crucial for next-generation optical devices such as photonic integrated circuits and localized sensors. Microspheres formed of luminescent π-conjugated polymers act as optical resonators that confine and amplify light via whispering gallery modes (WGMs), and they are promising candidates for microscale organic lasers and photonic applications. However, conventional microsphere resonators are geometrically isotropic and emit isotropic light, making directional control of emissions challenging. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-saturn-laser-emission-chiral-polymeric.html Polymers Tue, 07 Jul 2026 20:20:01 EDT news702638907 A planet that is about the size of Saturn, but with a temperature more like Earth's, has an atmosphere rich in methane, according to a new study using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). https://phys.org/news/2026-05-saturn-sized-exoplanet-earth-temperature.html Astronomy Thu, 21 May 2026 11:20:01 EDT news698577061 Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island are revealing new insight into the composition and origins of Uranus's two outer rings. Using data from the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA), combined with observations taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers constructed the first complete reflectance spectrum (sunlight reflected off the rings) of the μ and ν rings, confirming their colors and uncovering their detailed composition. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-uranus-outer-starkly.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:37:42 EDT news695572582 The two largest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, also have the largest satellite systems, or the most moons. At present, Jupiter's reported moon count stands at more than 100 moons, and along with its many rings, Saturn has more than 280 reported moons. Not all these moons are equal, however. Jupiter's moon family has four large members, including the largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede, while Saturn's family is dominated by one large moon, Titan, the solar system's second largest. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-jupiter-cultivated-large-moons-saturn.html Astronomy Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:20:04 EDT news694772744 Saturn's magnetic shield is asymmetrical compared to Earth's, suggests a new study involving University College London (UCL) researchers, and this is likely a result of its fast rotation coupled with the heavy material it pulls around it. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-saturn-magnetic-lopsided-earth.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 01 Apr 2026 05:00:01 EDT news694164301 Researchers at Northumbria University have used the most powerful space telescope ever built to answer one of the longest-standing puzzles in planetary science—why does Saturn appear to spin at a different speed depending on how you measure it? The findings, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, reveal for the first time the complex patterns of heat and electrically charged particles in Saturn's aurora, and show that the entire system is driven by a self-sustaining feedback loop powered by the planet's own northern lights. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-jwst-decades-mystery-saturn.html Astronomy Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:20:01 EDT news693831956