New Atlas

Space Audio available

Hubble spots "hot Neptune" exoplanet that's evaporating at a record rate

Michael Irving December 13, 2018

A type of world dubbed a "hot Neptune" has been conspicuously few and far between in terms of exoplanet discoveries, but a new observation may explain why. Hubble has now spotted a hot Neptune named GJ 3470b that’s vanishing at a record rate.

An illustration of GJ 3470b, shrouded in a cloud of gas as its atmosphere is stripped ...

Space

Water discovered hidden deep beneath Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Anthony Wood September 5, 2018

Scientists may have discovered large amounts of water hidden deep beneath the surface of Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot. The discovery, which was made using ground-based telescopes, opens up the possibility that extremophile lifeforms could exist in the atmosphere of the enigmatic gas giant.

Image of Jupiter's Great Red Spot created from data collected by NASA's Juno spacecraft

Space Audio available

Sizzling exoplanet is hot enough to vaporize titanium

Michael Irving August 15, 2018

With surface temperatures of up to 4,327° C (7,820° F), exoplanet KELT-9b is hotter than many stars – and, according to a new discovery, hot enough to vaporize heavy metals. Researchers have now detected iron and titanium vapor in KELT-9b’s atmosphere.

Exoplanet KELT-9b has surface temperatures of up to 4,327° C (7,820° F)

Science

Flying spiders are tapping into global electric fields for takeoff

Michael Irving July 9, 2018

It’s long been thought that spiders were "ballooning" on silk parachutes thanks to the wind picking them up, but a new study has found that the creatures are actually making use of atmospheric electric fields instead.

Researchers at the University of Bristol have found that spiders get airborne thanks to electric fields

Environment

Solar-powered harvester sucks drinkable water out of thin air

Michael Irving June 12, 2018

Although there are trillions of liters of water floating around in the air, it’s not easily accessible. Now engineers have developed a device powered by the Sun that can pluck practical quantities of drinkable water out of thin air, and they've successfully field-tested it in the Arizona desert.

Researchers at UC Berkeley test a device that can pluck drinkable water from the air

Space

Astronomers spot the first cloud-free exoplanet

Nick Lavars May 8, 2018

An important arm of exoplanet research involves the study of the atmospheres that surround these distant worlds. The molecules they hold can reveal valuable insights into what kind conditions can be found there – along with ones that cannot.

Artist's impression of the exoplanet WASP-96b

Space

Helium discovered in exoplanet atmosphere for the first time

Anthony Wood May 2, 2018

An international team of astronomers has made the first-ever detection of helium in the atmosphere of an extrasolar world. The new technique used to make the discovery could pave the way for scientists hoping to reveal the atmospheres of distant Earth-sized exoplanets.

Artist's impression of a 'Super-Neptune' exoplanet

Environment

TanSat delivers first global map of atmospheric CO2

James Holloway April 19, 2018

Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have put together the first global carbon dioxide maps based on data from the Chinese satellite TanSat. The satellite also measures “carbon dioxide flux,” changes in its behavior on Earth and in the Earth's atmosphere.

TanSat data has given birth to the first global map of atmospheric carbon dioxide

Space

ExoMars orbiter on the brink of commencing its scientific mission

Anthony Wood April 9, 2018

The ESA/Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is mere weeks away from commencing its atmospheric search for evidence of recent geological activity, and possibly life on everyone’s favorite Red Planet.

Artist's impression of the Trace Gas Orbiter around Mars

Space

Cassini captures its own grave in new NASA image release

Anthony Wood February 21, 2018

NASA has released a somber view of Saturn, created from some of the final images captured by the Cassini spacecraft. An annotated version of the image highlights the region of Saturn’s cloud surface in which Cassini ended its epic mission by diving into the atmosphere of the gas giant.

Saturn's surface is seen illuminated by reflected ring light just hours before Cassini's final rendezvous with ...