Before-and-after of asteroid Bennuâs sample site
During its final flyby this month, the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx took an image of the location where it collected a sample from asteroid Bennu’s surface. It’ll return to Earth 2 years from now, providing scientists with clues to the creation of our solar system.
Is Jupiter a key to finding dark matter?
Jupiter’s large size and cool core make it an excellent target in the search for dark matter. A team of scientists is analyzing gamma-ray data from the Fermi Telescope looking for signs of the elusive substance.
Yellowballs offer insights into star formation
The unexpected discovery of yellowballs by citizen scientists – in 2011 and 2012 – is shaking up astronomers’ ideas about how stars and star clusters form. It’s giving scientists a new window into the birth and evolution of young stars.
Martian hill named to honor Curiosity scientist
NASA has given the name Rafael Navarro Mountain to a hill in Gale Crater on Mars, where the Curiosity rover has been exploring since 2012. Navarro, a mission scientist, died in January 2021 from Covid-19.
Milky Way season has started!
Spring brings flowers to the landscape and photos of the Milky Way to EarthSky! Enjoy these photos of our galaxy taken in 2021, and keep your eye on this space for more to come!
Chemical fingerprint reveals a migrating exoplanet
The chemical fingerprint of exoplanet HD 209458b’s atmosphere reveals as many as 6 molecules and that it has migrated inwards from its birthplace much farther out in its star system.
Possible life signs in the clouds of Venus
A new analysis of data from the 1978 Pioneer Venus mission, by researchers at Cal Poly Pomona, finds evidence not only for phosphine, but also possible chemical disequilibrium in Venus’ atmosphere, an additional possible sign of biological activity.
Raindrop sizes similar on Earth and alien worlds
Whether the raindrop is made of water on Earth, methane on Titan, or liquid iron on an alien world, a new study shows that all raindrops will fall to the ground at a similar size.
Heads up! Small asteroid to pass very close on Monday
Small asteroid 2021 GW4 will pass extremely close to Earth on Monday, April 12, 2021. It’ll pass just 12,313 miles (19,816 km) from Earth’s surface, or about 5% the Earth-moon distance. Amateur astronomers using telescopes can see it passing the galaxy Messier 95 on the night of Sunday, April 11.
Hubble spots double quasars in merging galaxies
New images of the oldest known pairs of quasars, farthest and oldest yet seen, show that their home galaxies are colliding.
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