New Atlas

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Say hello to Hippocamp, Neptune's newest moon

Michael Irving February 20, 2019

Neptune's collection of moons has officially grown to 14. Originally discovered in 2013 and designated S/2004 N 1, this tiny world is described more accurately in a new paper, which also gives it an origin story and, finally, a catchier name. Say hello to Hippocamp.

An illustration of Hippocamp, a newly-discovered moon of Neptune

Space

Ancient white dwarf with rings calls star system evolution into question

Michael Irving February 19, 2019

A NASA-led citizen scientist project has discovered an ancient white dwarf that’s surrounded by large rings, which is shaking up our understanding of how these systems form.

An illustration of the newly discovered white dwarf and its ring system

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NASA's newest mission to look for life's ingredients and probe the universe's deep past

Michael Irving February 13, 2019

NASA has selected the newest space mission for its Explorer program: the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx). The spacecraft will search for the ingredients of life in the Milky Way, and peer as far as 10 billion years back in time.

An artist's impression of SPHEREx, the mission NASA has just selected for its Explorers program

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Liquid lake on Mars might be evidence the Red Planet is still volcanically active

Michael Irving February 12, 2019

Last year a huge lake of liquid water was apparently found beneath the ice at the Martian south pole. A new study has now examined how it might have gotten there, and concluded that Mars must have had volcanic activity much more recently than is normally believed, and may even still be active today.

A visualization of the south pole of Mars, where a huge lake of liquid water is ...

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Flatland: New images reveal Ultima Thule's shape is a "scientific puzzle"

Michael Irving February 10, 2019

Ultima Thule's shape has been described as a bowling pin, then a snowman. Now, new images snapped as the probe sped away from the object show that Ultima Thule is more like a flat “pancake” stuck to a “dented walnut,” leaving astronomers puzzled as to how such a shape is even possible.

A new view of Ultima Thule reveals that it's surprisingly flat

Space

The Milky Way galaxy is warped, according to new 3D map

Michael Irving February 4, 2019

Conventional wisdom has long held that the Milky Way was a flat disk of stars and gas, with a bulge in the middle. But now astronomers have created a more accurate 3D map of the galaxy and found that it’s more warped and twisted than previously thought.

An artist's impression of the warped shape of the Milky Way disk

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Japanese astronomers spot new class of object in the Kuiper Belt

Michael Irving January 29, 2019

A team at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has discovered a new class of object that has long been thought to exist in the Kuiper belt on the fringes of the solar system. It's a small body on the scale of a few kilometers.

An artist's impression of the newly-discovered object

Space

Hubble captures "lost light" to reveal deepest look into the universe yet

Michael Irving January 24, 2019

Astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) have re-processed an old Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) image to find new details. The end result is the deepest image ever taken of the universe from space.

The new Hubble Ultra Deep Field image reveals new details, thanks to the recovery of "lost ...

Space

Sharper images of a supermassive black hole reveal new secrets

Michael Irving January 23, 2019

A team of astronomers has used a global array of telescopes to peer through the fog and capture some of the clearest radio images yet of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. And it may indicate that the object just happens to be pointing directly at Earth.

An artist's rendition of a supermassive black hole, such as the one at the center of ...

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"Planet Nine" may be a distant, dusty disc of rock and ice

Michael Irving January 22, 2019

In recent years astronomers have found evidence that there might be a huge “Planet Nine” lurking on the fringes of the solar system. A new study has now poured some cold water on the idea, instead pitching the possibility that a dusty disc is causing all the weirdness out there.

An artist's rendering of the hypothetical Planet Nine