High-resolution radio observations link the chemistry of local moons and comets to the birth environments of distant exoplanets.
solar system
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Could Future Mars Habitats Be Made of Ice?
Models suggest that clear ice, sourced and distilled on Mars, could offer a feasible alternative for building stable off-world structures.
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What Tumbling Asteroids Tell Us About Their Innards
Data from the Gaia space observatory reveal that many slowly spinning asteroids rotate chaotically. A new theory links that chaos to their inner structure and history.
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A Survey of the Kuiper Belt Hints at an Unseen Planet
An analysis of more than 150 objects in the far reaches of the solar system suggests that a planet more massive than Mercury could be lurking beyond the orbit of Pluto.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Rubin Observatory Stuns and Awes With Sprawling First Look Images
Wow. Just wow.
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The Late, Great Gaia Helps Reveal Asteroid Masses
Astronomers are using data from the recently decommissioned star-mapping satellite to help determine masses and more accurate orbits of celestial bodies closer to home.
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A Geologic Map of the Asteroid Belt
Scientists leveraged a global camera network and doorbell cameras to track dozens of meteorites to their asteroid families.
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Distant Icy Twins Might Actually Be Triplets
The trans-Neptunian object Altjira, 44 times farther from the Sun than Earth is, could be the second known trinary, confirming a theory about the formation of our solar system.
Posted inResearch & Developments
NASA Science Faces an “Extinction-Level Event” with Trump Draft Budget Proposal
The initial draft of President Donald Trump’s budget request proposes devastating cuts to NASA’s science research, future space missions, and field centers.
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Pluto Captured Charon with a Kiss
A newly understood collision mechanism could explain some peculiarities of Pluto and its moons.