• JWST finds a highly reflective atmosphere around lava planet TOI-561 b

    ByReet Kaur

    James Webb Space Telescope observations of the ultra-hot rocky planet TOI-561 b are best explained by a highly reflective global atmosphere, with an energy-balance analysis finding that the planet reflects roughly three-quarters of the stellar energy reaching it. Atmospheric circulation alone cannot account for its comparatively cool dayside, while climate and condensation models show that reflective silicate clouds can form under the inferred conditions.

  • Ten grams from Phobos may reveal how Mars got its moons

    ByReet Kaur

    A sample weighing at least 10 g from Mars’ moon Phobos could contain enough individual grains for scientists to separate native moon material from contamination and test two competing ideas for how the Martian moons formed, according to the scientific framework developed for Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The mission design links the chemistry, mineralogy and isotopic composition of those grains to a long-standing question: whether Phobos is a captured primitive body from elsewhere in the Solar System or material assembled after a giant impact on early Mars.

  • Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS lost meters of its surface, giving scientists a depth scale for its chemistry

    ByReet Kaur

    New calculations based on reported production rates indicate that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS lost the equivalent of about 1.71–5.24 m (5.6–17.2 feet) of its radius from gas alone during its passage through the Solar System, while models that include dust produce erosion depths above 10 m (33 feet). The result gives researchers a way to relate the chemistry escaping from the comet to possible depths inside its nucleus, an important constraint when trying to determine how much of its observed material still reflects its history before entering the Solar System.

  • 3D simulations reveal how a nuclear burst could break apart a threatening asteroid

    ByReet Kaur

    Three-dimensional simulations developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory show how X-rays from a nuclear standoff burst can drive extensive damage and opposing material motion through a modeled asteroid. Two of three scenarios approached the regime associated with robust disruption, but the calculations ended before researchers could determine whether the resulting fragment field would meet the criteria for a successful disruption.

  • Global fault survey reveals how much the Moon contracted during its late evolution

    ByReet Kaur

    A global analysis of young thrust faults estimates that the Moon’s radius decreased by about 42–46 m (138–151 feet) during its late-stage contraction as the lunar interior cooled. The mapped deformation preserves substantially less contraction than some thermal-evolution models produce, leaving an unresolved gap between the Moon’s visible tectonic record and its modeled cooling history.

  • Repeated kicks as the Sun sheds mass could destabilize the giant planets far sooner than expected

    ByReet Kaur

    Numerical experiments suggest that thousands of small recoils experienced by the Sun as it loses its outer envelope could radically rearrange the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Under the study’s fiducial assumptions, about 90% of simulated outer Solar Systems became unstable within 3 billion years, replacing a picture in which the giant planets were expected to remain dynamically intact for far longer.

  • New method filters false signals from the Sun’s hidden side to build fuller magnetic maps

    ByReet Kaur

    A new method for identifying magnetic activity on the far side of the Sun rejects about 90% of false helioseismic detections before they enter solar magnetic-field simulations. Tests found that conventional near-side-driven simulations underestimated the Sun’s total unsigned magnetic flux by roughly 10–20%, showing how much magnetic activity can be missing while active regions develop beyond direct Earth view.

  • Astronomers find possible habitable-zone planet around the hottest star yet 

    ByRishav Kothari

    Astronomers have found a possible planet in the habitable zone of HD 156295, a hot A-type star about 2 000 K (2 000 °C, 3 600 °F) hotter than the Sun, according to a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal. If confirmed, HD 156295 would become the hottest star known to host a habitable-zone planet.

  • Newly discovered crater reveals how impacts reshape the Moon

    ByReet Kaur

    A newly discovered 222 m (728 feet) crater on the Moon is giving scientists a rare look at how a single impact can modify the lunar surface far beyond the crater itself. The crater, formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when an asteroid or comet fragment struck the Moon, is associated with changes in surface reflectance extending more than 100 km (62 miles) from the impact site and a broad thermal anomaly linked to disturbed regolith.

  • Ryugu samples reveal nitrogen compounds concentrated in salts from ancient asteroid brines

    ByReet Kaur

    Samples returned from asteroid Ryugu contain ammonium-bearing clay, C≡N-bearing species and sodium nitrate clustered with sodium-carbonate-rich material. The authors conclude that these nitrogen reservoirs probably became concentrated as the last brines in Ryugu’s parent body disappeared, linking nitrogen storage to the final stages of aqueous alteration and identifying a chemical setting that could have supported prebiotic organic reactions. The study was published in Nature Astronomy on August 27, 2026.