NASA’s asteroid redirection experiment has produced a new result with potential implications well beyond planetary science. Researchers reported that the agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, not only altered the motion of the small asteroid Dimorphos around its larger companion, Didymos, but also slightly changed the binary system’s path around the sun. Scientists described the finding as the first…
New Modeling Challenges Assumptions A research team from the University of Zurich and the NCCR PlanetS has introduced a revised view of Uranus and Neptune, long known as the solar system’s ice giants. Their findings suggest that the two planets may contain far more rocky material than previously believed, challenging decades of classification and raising new questions about how these…
Multiple Early Hominins in East Africa New fossil evidence from Ethiopia is reshaping what scientists know about human origins. Researchers say they have finally solved the mystery of the Burtele foot, first discovered more than a decade ago. The unusual set of bones — including an opposable big toe — has now been linked to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a long-debated human…
What a Supermoon Is and Why It Looks Bigger As December evenings approach, skywatchers have a celestial treat: the last supermoon of the year. The phenomenon occurs because the moon’s orbit around Earth is elliptical — at certain points it comes closer to our planet. When a full moon aligns with that near-Earth point, the result is a “supermoon”: a…
SpaceX is preparing for another nighttime launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. The mission is scheduled for Monday evening and will send a Falcon 9 rocket into low Earth orbit. If conditions allow, residents across California, including San Diego, could catch a glimpse of the bright trail produced by the rocket shortly after liftoff. Space enthusiasts…
Martian Rover Detects Unusual Electrical Signals A major breakthrough in planetary science may have just occurred on Mars. Researchers analyzing data from NASA’s Perseverance rover say they have detected electrical discharges in the planet’s atmosphere, pointing to the possibility that Mars is capable of producing lightning. These signals, informally described as “mini lightning”, were captured by the rover’s audio system…
Fresh Radar Observations Renew Debate Over a Subsurface Discovery NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has delivered new data that questions one of the most exciting planetary science interpretations of recent years. The feature once believed to be a buried lake beneath thick ice at the Martian south pole appears more likely to be a layer of rock or dust. This conclusion…
