Planets/Moons

New study finds surface waters on early Mars may have been habitable for microbial lifeCredit: NASA Presently, Earth is the only known location where life exists in the Universe. This year the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three…

Credit: NAOJ Astronomers at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) have analyzed the paths of two objects heading out of the Solar System forever and determined that they also most likely originated from outside of…

A low-mass planet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri at a distance of 1.5 AU An analysis of cyclical changes in the light spectrum emitted by Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun, suggests it may be orbited by a second planet.…

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/A. Bader (Lancaster University). Researchers are busy analysing some of the final data sent back from the Cassini spacecraft which has been in orbit around Saturn for more than 13…

Thanks to some astrophysical sleuthing, researchers have pinpointed an early galactic merger that helped shape the Milky Way. The merger -- a collision, actually -- happened 11.5 billion years ago. That's when a small galaxy called…

A 'cold Neptune' and two potentially habitable worlds are part of a cache of five newly discovered exoplanets and eight exoplanet candidates found orbiting nearby red dwarf starsCredit: Illustration is by Robin Dienel, courtesy of the…

The ancient stardust reveals a 'baby boom' in star formationCredit: Image courtesy NASA, W. Sparks (STScI) and R. Sahai (JPL). Inset: SiC grain with ~8 micrometers in its longest dimension. Inset image courtesy of Janaína N. Ávila. Stars…

Scientists, including those from the University of Colorado Boulder, have finally scaled the solar system's equivalent of the Rocky Mountain range. In a study published today in Nature Astronomy, researchers from the United States and…

Credit: Steve Kurtz / UC Santa Cruz The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to announce the winners of its medals and prizes for 2020, the bicentenary of the foundation of the RAS. Each year the Society recognises significant…

NASA spacecraft will explore a record eight objectsCredit: NASA and Southwest Research Institute SAN ANTONIO -- Jan. 9, 2020 -- Less than two years before launch, scientists associated with NASA's Lucy mission, led by Southwest…