Category: Science

Scientists are puzzled by its dazzling afterglow. Astronomers have zoomed in on Jupiter‘s poles to get a better look at the gas giant planet’s auroras — 100 times brighter than the Northern Lights on Earth. These alien light shows are not only humongous compared to the ones people are used to seeing in our …

A space vortex plays hide-and-seek with sky surveys. A black hole skulking in the shadows 600 million light-years away in space gave itself away with a dazzling flash, the light of a star it had just gnashed and eaten. Using NASA‘s Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories, astronomers …

You ain't cool unless you pee your space pants. Before NASA shot astronaut Scott Kelly into orbit for the first time in 1999, he had an important order from his commander: Take one of these diapers, and go practice at home. So there he was, wearing a government-issued space diaper, lying down in his bathtub …

The final chapter for Kosmos 482. A Cold War-era spacecraft is heading home after a half-century adrift. Back in the 1970s, the Soviet Union had its sights set on Venus, sometimes known as Earth’s evil twin. A thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in the solar …

Giant ripples in space? Astronomers have spotted a pair of exotic features believed to be the aftermath of a colossal cosmic smackdown — not between two galaxies, but two groups of galaxies. These glowing arcs of radio energy are known as “radio relics,” faint clouds resulting from powerful shockwaves surging through hot …

No haze. No clouds. Just vibes. A sweltering planet circling a star much like the sun is delivering something scientists rarely get when studying distant worlds — clarity. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a collaboration of NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts, a team of astronomers zoomed in …

That's not going to heal right. Near the center of the Milky Way are enormous filaments of radio energy that sometimes look like bones, and one in particular has astronomers playing orthopaedists. If the new picture at the top of this story reminds you of an X-ray, well, that’s because it is. Scientists used …

It's an enormous natural laboratory. At Jupiter‘s north pole, powerful storms the size of Australia or bigger are wrapped in 100 mph winds. After analyzing years of data from NASA‘s Juno mission, scientists have observed the long-term movements of its huge polar cyclone, along with the eight others surrounding it. Meanwhile, …

“You see a beautiful planet and a borderless world.”

The drill is free at last. NASA‘s Perseverance rover almost had to let go of a precious drill bit on Mars after an attempt to collect a rock sample went awry. For the past week, the car-sized lab on wheels seemed to remain in its location on the rim of …