Scientists may have solved a long-standing mystery surrounding the ice giant Uranus and its faint radiation belts. The belts’ weakness may be linked to the planet’s peculiarly tilted and unstable magnetic field, which could be causing a “traffic jam” for particles orbiting Earth. The mystery dates back to Voyager 2’s visit to Uranus in January… Read More »
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered that one of the closest “hot Jupiter” planets to Earth smells like rotten eggs. The planet already has a bad reputation for deadly glass rain, extreme temperatures, and sideways winds of 5,000 mph (8,046 kph), but this discovery makes this world seem even less friendly.… Read More »
If aliens were to rock their planet with powerful greenhouse gases like we do, we might understand. That’s according to a recent thought experiment in which scientists identified five “artificial” greenhouse gases that could be detected in the atmospheres of certain planets if they were present in sufficient quantities. outer planets Using existing technology, James… Read More »
Planetary scientists have found that sub-Neptunian planets that dance at the same time as the rest of their planetary systems are less dense than those that don’t. Although they are noticeably distant from the solar system, the most common planets in the Milky Way are known as “sub-Neptunes,” or worlds between Earth and the ice… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more. Hundreds of basketball-sized space rocks are hitting Mars every year, leaving behind impact craters and rumbling sounds on the red planet, according to new research. Mission planners could use that information, recorded in data collected… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Early analysis of a sample collected from the asteroid Bennu suggests the space rock has an unexpectedly water-rich past and may even have broken up from an ancient ocean world. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected a… Read More »
On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft dropped to Earth a capsule containing pure carbonaceous regolith collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. These samples were obtained after the probe made an impressive, seven-year round-trip journey across the solar system. Ever since these pieces of space rock arrived (about 120 grams of sample, to be exact),… Read More »
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found previously unseen structures and activity in Jupiter’s atmosphere above the Great Red Spot. These strange features appear to be caused by strong atmospheric gravitational waves. The Great Red Spot is the largest storm in the solar system, twice the size of Earth and believed to… Read More »
Planets can survive the death of their stars and become capable of supporting life; Now astronomers will start looking for them. Stars can’t survive forever, Sun including. In about five billion yearsThe Earth star will begin to consume the hydrogen source it uses to produce energy. nuclear fusion in its core. The Sun’s core will… Read More »
“James Webb Telescope: Are We Alone?” In The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper offers an inside look at the most powerful telescope ever built. The show will premiere on Sunday, June 16 at 8pm ET/PT on CNN. A collision between giant asteroids may have occurred in a neighboring star system called Beta Pictoris in recent… Read More »