Far-flung Uranus and Neptune—the ice giants of our solar system—are as mysterious as they are distant. Soon after its launch in 2021, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will change that by unlocking secrets of the atmospheres ...
Astronomy
Feb 28, 2020
16
811
The isotopic composition of meteorites and terrestrial planets holds important clues about the earliest history of the solar system and the processes of planet formation.
Astronomy
Dec 17, 2019
3
534
As planets in our solar system go, Venus is one for the textbooks.
Space Exploration
Aug 27, 2019
2
513
Most of the terrestrial planets in the galaxy orbit stars smaller than the sun. Because of their sheer numbers, they would seem to be promising candidates in the search for life elsewhere. But astronomers say they suspect ...
Astronomy
Aug 21, 2019
0
42
Astronomers at MIT, Harvard University, and elsewhere have searched a rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet for signs of an atmosphere—and found none.
Astronomy
Aug 20, 2019
0
814
Primitive chondrites, un-molten stony meteorites, are believed to be the building blocks of the Earth. Because terrestrial planets have experienced chemical differentiation in the core, mantle, and hydrosphere, the elemental ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 1, 2019
0
6
With a new telescope situated on a scenic plateau in Tenerife, Spain, MIT planetary scientists now have an added way to search for Earth-sized exoplanets. Artemis, the first ground-based telescope of the SPECULOOS Northern ...
Astronomy
Jun 21, 2019
0
0
Moons orbiting planets outside our solar system could offer another clue about the pool of worlds that may be home to extra-terrestrial life, according to an astrophysicist at the University of Lincoln.
Astronomy
Jun 4, 2019
2
300
A lunar lander named for the Chinese goddess of the moon may have lessened the mystery of the far side of the moon. The fourth Chang'E probe (CE-4) was the first mission to land on the far side of the moon, and it has collected ...
Space Exploration
May 15, 2019
0
1364
Should regulations for environmental protection be valid beyond our solar system? Currently, extra-terrestrial forms of life are only deemed worth protecting if they can be scientifically investigated. But what about the ...
Astronomy
Jan 25, 2019
3
17
