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Planetary Sciences news
This isn't just another rocky world orbiting a red dwarf—this one's special
Astronomers have found an exoplanet that could serve as a benchmark in future studies. It's a rocky planet orbiting an M-type star, and though these planets are plentiful, this one could serve as a benchmark for understanding ...
Astronomy
20 hours ago
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NASA's tiny spacecraft sends first exoplanet images
With the first images from the spacecraft now in hand, the team behind NASA's Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS, is ready to begin charting the energetic lives of the galaxy's most common stars to help answer ...
Astronomy
Mar 12, 2026
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NASA plans to have a permanent base on the moon by 2030: How it can be done
A US Senate committee has directed NASA to begin work on a moon base "as soon as is practicable." Under legislation advanced by the Senate lawmakers, the outpost would serve as a science laboratory and proving ground, where ...
Space Exploration
Mar 12, 2026
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Astronomers discuss fortifying our planetary defenses
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 ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 12, 2026
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We are not alone: Our sun escaped together with stellar 'twins' from galaxy center
Researchers have uncovered evidence for our sun joining a mass migration of similar "twins" leaving the core regions of our galaxy, 4 to 6 billion years ago. The team created and studied an unprecedentedly accurate catalog ...
Astronomy
Mar 12, 2026
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The Rubin Observatory's LSST will detect imminent impactors before they crash into Earth
The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) has barely begun observations and is already wowing us. Images like its Cosmic Treasure Chest have us anticipating even more cosmic glory. And when the observatory sent out 800,000 alerts ...
Astronomy
Mar 11, 2026
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Astronomers collect rare evidence of two planets colliding
Anastasios (Andy) Tzanidakis was combing through old telescope data from 2020 when he found an otherwise boring star acting very strangely. The star, named Gaia20ehk, was about 11,000 light-years from Earth near the constellation ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 11, 2026
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Hydrogen atmosphere could keep exomoons habitable for billions of years
Liquid water is considered essential for life. Surprisingly, however, stable conditions that are conducive to life could exist far from any sun. A research team from the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS at LMU and the Max Planck ...
Astrobiology
Mar 11, 2026
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How jagged moon dust could support future astronauts
Lunar dust can be a pain—but it's also literally the ground we will have to traverse if we are ever to have a permanent human settlement on the moon. In that specific use case, its clingy, jagged, staticky properties can ...
Space Exploration
Mar 10, 2026
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A new model defines an upper limit to planetary radiation belt intensity
We all know that stars radiate light and much more. But radiation belts can also surround many other celestial bodies, such as planets. These belts do not generate particles themselves—the belts receive them from nearby ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 10, 2026
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New exoplanet survey method finds high rates of closely orbiting planets
Up until now, exoplanet surveys have mostly focused on nearby, bright stars that are sun-like or are red dwarfs, which are known to frequently host planets. While astronomers have discovered thousands of planets this way, ...
NASA's Van Allen Probe A to re-enter atmosphere
NASA's Van Allen Probe A is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 10, 2026
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Evaluating landing sites for China's manned moon mission
Observations of the Rimae Bode region on the moon reveal five distinct types of terrain and identify several potential landing sites for China's first crewed mission, according to research titled "Geology of Rimae Bode region ...
Space Exploration
Mar 9, 2026
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How do we know what asteroids are made out of?
Asteroids are some of the oldest objects in the solar system: leftovers from the chaotic time when planets were assembling from dust and rock. They're time capsules, preserving clues about what the early solar system was ...
Astrobiology
Mar 9, 2026
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Terraforming Mars isn't a climate problem—it's an industrial nightmare
Even when the idea of terraforming Mars was originally put forward, the idea was daunting. Changing the environment of an entire planet is not something to do easily. Over the following decades, plenty of scientists and engineers ...
Space Exploration
Mar 9, 2026
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Nearby red dwarf star hosts at least four planets—with one in the habitable zone
In 2020, a study confirmed that two planets orbited the nearby red dwarf, GJ 887. Now, astronomers have confirmed the existence of two additional planets orbiting GJ 887 in a new study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. ...
ESA analyzing fireball over Europe on 8 March 2026
At approximately 18:55 CET (17:55 UTC) on Sunday, March 8, 2026, a very bright fireball moving from the southwest to the northeast was observed by many people in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Planetary Sciences
Mar 9, 2026
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An interstellar comet packed with alcohol? What ALMA found in 3I/ATLAS
Comet 3I/ATLAS continues to make astonishing headlines, thanks to new findings from astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This new research reveals that 3I/ATLAS is packed with an unusually ...
Astronomy
Mar 9, 2026
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Red dwarf stars might starve alien plants of the 'quality' light they need to breathe
Red dwarfs make up the vast majority of stars in the galaxy. Such ubiquity means they host the majority of rocky exoplanets we've found so far—which in turn makes them interesting for astrobiological surveys. However, there's ...
Astrobiology
Mar 7, 2026
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DART images reveal asteroids can toss slow 'cosmic snowballs' between moons
About 15% of asteroids near Earth have small moons orbiting them, making binary asteroid systems common in our cosmic neighborhood.
Planetary Sciences
Mar 7, 2026
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Using moon dirt with 3D printing to build future lunar colonies
Video: Landsat 9: More than just a picture
Real-time protein quality control keeps cells healthy
Comprehensive digital materials ecosystem can perform 'sanity check' to guide design
Leopard gecko study clarifies how temperature shapes sex development
