In the pure snow of Antarctica, scientists have found rare isotopes that don’t occur naturally on Earth. The isotope, known as iron-60, is usually forged in the crucible of supernova explosions. The researchers believe it fell to Earth as our solar system passed through an interstellar gas cloud.
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NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has provided new insights into a rocky exoplanet that may be very similar to the Earth's Moon. Orbiting an M-type dwarf star, LHS 3844b is 1.3 times the mass of our planet, probably airless, and covered with lava plains resembling the lunar maria.
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India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has successfully made orbit around the Moon. The ambitious mission, which is comprised of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, has the goal of shedding new light on the creation and evolution of Earth’s closest celestial neighbor.
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Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most intriguing mysteries of modern astronomy, with some strange signals repeating on an irregular basis. Now the catalog of repeaters has grown substantially, as astronomers have detected a whopping eight new repeating signals.
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NASA has completed the first round of tool tests aboard the International Space Station (ISS) aimed at determining the feasibility of in-orbit refueling of satellites and deep-space missions.
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NASA has given the official go-ahead for the Europa Clipper deep-space mission to make a detailed survey of one of Jupiter's largest moons. The unmanned mission can now proceed to its final design phase ahead of the building and testing of the spacecraft and its instruments.
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Astronomers have detected a gravitational wave signal that appears to be caused by a black hole swallowing a neutron star. Aside from being an incredible cosmic cataclysm to witness, this detection is important for another reason: it may be the final point in the gravitational wave trifecta.
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NASA's Mars 2020 rover has received a key piece of equipment for the collection, containment, and eventual return to Earth of samples of the Red Planet as engineers installed the bit carousel of the Sample Caching System used to store and sort out the tools and core samples.
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Virgin Galactic has declared its Gateway to Space building at Spaceport America "operationally functional" as company officials unveiled the interior of the facility that will act as both Mission Control and the departure/arrival lounge for space tourists.
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Just how common are potentially habitable Earth-like planets? Researchers on a new study claim to have come up with the most accurate estimate yet – and they’re more common than you might think.
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