A view of Uranus from the Hubble Space Telescope NASA and Erich Karkoschka, U. of Arizona The rings that encircle Uranus may look similar in images, but their compositions are surprisingly different. Understanding the rings could help us unravel the many mysteries of this strange, dynamic system. The outer rings of Uranus – the mu…
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Illustration of the separation of the SWCX foreground emission from the cosmic X-ray sky, for the Western Galactic hemisphere. The stripe patterns visible in the SWCX image result from temporal variations in foreground emission combined with eROSITA’s scanning…
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet to gel into its own solar system, astronomers reported Thursday. Comet 3I/Atlas is only the third interstellar visitor to be confirmed and quite possibly the oldest….
NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected more than 20 carbon-containing compounds — including seven never before seen on Mars — in a sample collected from 3.5-billion-year-old clay-bearing sandstones in Gale Crater. A close-up of three holes Curiosity drilled into Martian rock at a location nicknamed Mary Anning in October 2020. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech /…
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Voyager 1, launched in September 1977, is currently exploring the farthest edges of the solar system. | Credit: NASA NASA engineers have shut down another instrument on Voyager 1 to preserve the power of the most distant spacecraft…
A continent-like shelf beneath the Martian surface hints that a vast ocean once covered up to a third of Mars, reshaping the long-running debate over its watery past. This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO. While it is widely accepted that Mars…
A new statistical analysis of archival sky surveys from the early Cold War has found that mysterious, short-lived bursts of light in the night sky were more likely to appear around the time of above-ground nuclear weapons tests and to increase alongside reports of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAPs). Four exposures of the 3 x 3…
The Jovian system has four large moons, including the largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede, whereas the Saturnian system is dominated by one giant moon. New simulations suggest Jupiter’s powerful magnetism carved a gap in its early disk, helping capture and preserve major moons like Io and Ganymede, while Saturn’s weaker field left its…
New computational simulations suggest ice-giant planets like Uranus and Neptune harbor a quasi-one-dimensional superionic state of carbon hydride that could reshape how scientists understand planetary interiors. Illustration of the predicted hexagonal carbon hydride compound under Neptune-like interior conditions. In this structure, carbon forms the outer spiral chains (yellow) and hydrogen forms the inner spiral chains…
A new analysis of isotopic signatures across planets and meteorite parent bodies suggests our home world formed entirely from inner solar system material, challenging long-standing theories of distant origins. An artist’s impression of the asteroid 2025 MN45. Image credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / NOIRLab / SLAC / AURA / P. Marenfeld. “Our calculations…
