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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, a new study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, seems to have found a more efficient […]

European Space Agency probing fireball that hit German home

The European Space Agency said it is investigating a fireball that streaked across the skies of Europe on the weekend before reportedly punching a football-sized hole in the roof of a German home.

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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 trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield […]

Strange cosmic burst from colliding galaxies shines light on heavy elements

A recently detected flash of energy appears to have emanated from the wreckage of colliding galaxies, according to an international team of astronomers led by Penn State scientists. The burst, known as GRB 230906A, was likely caused by the collision of two neutron stars hundreds of millions of years ago and is now shedding light […]

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 as priority site candidate for China’s first crewed lunar mission.” The work is published in Nature Astronomy.

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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 like, and, ultimately, what the building blocks of planets are.

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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 have looked at the problem, and most have come to the same conclusion—we’re not going to be able […]

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. The new study suggests that one of these newly confirmed planets is in the habitable zone.

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Record-energy neutrino may have begun its journey in blazars

Three years ago, in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the passage of an “ultra-energetic” cosmic neutrino was observed—the most energetic ever detected. The event drew international attention from the scientific community as well as from the media and the public, not least because the origin of this particle—whose energy exceeded that of previously observed […]

Multi-wavelength observations track bright gamma-ray blazar’s three-year cycle

By analyzing the data from various space observatories and ground-based telescopes, European astronomers have performed a multiwavelength study of a bright gamma-ray blazar known as S5 1044+71. The new study, published Feb. 26 on the arXiv pre-print server, delivers a comprehensive view of this blazar, which could help us better understand its nature.

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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.

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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 large amount of the organic molecule methanol—more than almost all known comets in our own solar system.

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Space launches are changing the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere, studies warn. Here’s what can be done

Look up on a clear night and you’ll see the streaks of our new space age. What you don’t see is the growing fallout for the atmosphere that keeps us alive.

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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 a catch—astrobiologists aren’t sure the light from these stars can actually support oxygen-producing life. A new paper, available on […]

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.

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