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Planetary Sciences news
'Mini-Neptune' exoplanets may have smoggy atmospheres similar to diesel exhaust
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 ...
Planetary Sciences
2 hours ago
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Icy moons' ability to host life could be revealed through an ecology-based method
New observatories and spacecraft missions are probing environments in our solar system that could potentially host life but have long remained hidden. Icy moons like Saturn's Enceladus and Jupiter's Europa likely contain ...
Astrobiology
8 hours ago
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Strange winds on seven hot Jupiters reveal strongest signs yet of exoplanet magnetic activity
A team of astronomers has found the strongest evidence yet that some planets outside our solar system may be magnetic. Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) and the Gemini North telescope, ...
Astronomy
9 hours ago
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ESA selects two new scout-class missions
When it comes to understanding Earth and our changing environment, space is the place. Not only does it give us an overall holistic view of the planet below, but satellite-based imagery can transcend national boundaries and ...
Space Exploration
17 hours ago
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Rovers, regolith, robots: The blueprint for the moon
The "soil" blanketing the moon's surface isn't actually soil. It's a fine, lethal, abrasive powder of shattered rock and jagged glass that shreds gaskets, chews through seals, and hangs in an airless environment blasted by ...
Space Exploration
18 hours ago
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How a giant moon and a steam atmosphere built the recipe for life
4.5 billion years ago was an interesting time for Earth. The atmosphere was thick and what we would now think of as toxic. The moon, which was freshly formed, looks much more massive than it does today and faintly glows with ...
Astrobiology
23 hours ago
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First direct view tracks planet-forming disk spinning around AB Aurigae
The rotation of a protoplanetary disk (a disk where planets are being formed) has been observed directly for the very first time by mapping the emissions from the dust grains within it. The disk in question surrounds the ...
Astronomy
Jun 1, 2026
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Longest-period young transiting exoplanets discovered
It's 2234, you're on your annual class field trip touring exoplanets, and your teacher informs everyone they can pick one more exoplanetary system to explore before heading back to Earth. You and your classmates are exhausted ...
Astronomy
Jun 1, 2026
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New study has shone a new light on searching for habitable worlds
When astronomers discovered the first planet outside our solar system, it was orbiting a pulsar, one of the most extreme, radiation-blasted environments imaginable. Not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find a planet, ...
Astrobiology
Jun 1, 2026
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One of our planets may be missing, and it could explain why the solar system looks the way it does
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 ...
Supermassive black holes could be the universe's biggest planet nurseries
Supermassive black holes are the largest known black holes in the universe, sitting at the center of most large galaxies. They are sometimes described as cosmic monsters because they feed on surrounding gas and dust when ...
Is extracting oxygen from lunar soil the future of space exploration?
A new race to the moon is emerging between the United States and China. Unlike fifty years ago, the goal is no longer just about landing and leaving, but establishing a base that allows for a sustainable presence and extended ...
Space Exploration
May 30, 2026
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Mars's manganese 'bathtub ring' reveals ancient ocean timeline and its potential for life
Past research has indicated Mars's largest northern basin, Utopia Planitia, was once the location of a large body of water, but details surrounding when this body of water may have existed have not been resolved. Researchers ...
Mineral clues in Gale Crater track ancient Mars climate change
While NASA imagery has shown evidence of ancient rivers and lakes on Mars that transitioned to dry dunes, uncertainty remains over the timing of the environmental changes that may have contributed to these shifts.
Planetary Sciences
May 28, 2026
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Red dwarf stars detected 'eating' Earth-like planets
Astronomers have found some of the strongest evidence yet that stars can swallow their own planets. A new study, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, supports the long-held belief that young stars ...
Planetary Sciences
May 28, 2026
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Peering into the Milky Way's far side, Roman could unveil 100,000 worlds
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to make a major leap in the hunt for worlds outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Scientists expect the mission to reveal around 100,000 worlds—a staggering leap ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
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The solar wind's secret hammerheads and what they tell us about heat in space
The proton sharks showed up on a Friday. In a routine data calibration meeting for NASA's Parker Solar Probe in 2020, a small group of scientists were scrolling through visualizations of their data showing solar winds. Suddenly, ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
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Bare supercontinent may have tipped ancient Earth into 'Snowball' phase
About a billion years ago, Earth started to come into its own. It was past the awkwardness of its younger years full of growing pains and turmoil: comet strikes and slimy water, including the Great Oxidation Event that flipped ...
Chang'e-5 regolith studies reveal nanoscale space-weathering processes
On the moon, the lack of atmosphere and accompanying features such as biological activity, oxygen-rich air, flowing water and rain, wind, and most erosion allows the lunar regolith to preserve a long-term record of surface ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
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Astronomers discover how to estimate masses of newborn planets using dust rings
A team of astronomers, led by University of Warwick in collaboration with researchers at MIT and McMaster, have developed a novel method to use the properties of dust rings around stars to estimate the masses of newborn planets. ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
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More news
The definitive census of multiple star systems within ten parsecs
Just outside Jupiter, one region may have forged six meteorite parent bodies
Hellish Venus-like planets may be more prevalent than true exoEarths
New eruption discovered in the Bismarck Sea
Other news
Antibiotic resistance turns up in Australian horses, raising new concerns about animal and human infections
Molecular glasses solve long-standing Arrhenius paradox
Cutting a photon in two creates an infinite swarm of particles
New mantises planking their way to urban dominance
Tiny membrane tethers revealed as key to plant cell survival in drought
Astronomers uncover why some solar eruptions die
Image: NASA's Psyche mission captures Mars' Huygens Crater
Image: NASA's Psyche mission images the crescent of Mars
Innovative Mars rovers 'swim' through the sand
Dark lunar craters could host ultrastable lasers for moon navigation
Nanoparticles boost delivery of lung cancer drugs 30-fold
