Space

Feb 10th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Long before a star ignites, its birth is shaped by invisible particles racing through space at near-light speed. These cosmic rays quietly alter the chemistry and temperature inside dark clouds, helping determine when the clouds can collapse and begin forming stars. For the first time, astronomers have directly measured the influence of these particles inside a dense, starless cloud, providing a long-sought reading from the heart of a stellar nursery . The discovery ... [Read More]

Feb 10th, 2026 - Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, a gas giant so massive in scale that it can fit more than a thousand Earths inside it. It's a distant planet that we know fairly little about. But it turns out, even the things that we did know weren't the most accurate. New findings show that Jupiter is smaller and flatter than previous estimates, which means we might have to update our textbooks. . The findings show that Jupiter is slightly smaller than previously thought, having a ... [Read More]

Feb 10th, 2026 - Two studies reveal complex molecules and peptide bonds forming in interstellar space. A pair of new studies suggest that key steps toward life's chemistry may begin long before planets exist. Experiments simulating interstellar space show that simple amino acids can link into peptides, while astronomical observations reveal an unexpectedly large sulfur-bearing organic molecule drifting inside a cold molecular cloud. Taken together, the studies indicate that important steps toward biological ... [Read More]

Feb 10th, 2026 - At the center of the Milky Way, there might lie a pulsar—a highly magnetized, spinning neutron star that formed from the dead husk of a massive star that had gone supernova . If confirmed, the possible discovery, which was announced in a paper published on Monday, could reveal new physics. Pulsars are the universe's lighthouses . As they spin, they emit steady and predictable bursts of radiation. In turn, researchers can use these rhythmic pulses to reveal tiny changes in spacetime and ... [Read More]

Feb 10th, 2026 - Analyzing a precious bit of 4.6-billion year old space dust no bigger than a teaspoon, a team of researchers at Penn State University may have figured out how amino acids formed in the early solar system. When NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission brought back samples from asteroid 101955 Bennu, researchers found that they contained amino acids, the building blocks necessary for life. Amino acids are the molecules that create proteins and peptides in DNA. A big question was, "How did amino acids form in ... [Read More]

Feb 10th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google A recent study points to an exciting possibility: that Uranus's moon Miranda, located in the far reaches of our solar system, may harbor a hidden sea beneath its icy crust, making it hospitable to extraterrestrial life. Discovering water on a moon is no easy task. It's even harder when that moon is hundreds of millions of miles away. Tom Nordheim, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory ( JHAPL ), is the person who gave us a peek into these ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - Ripples in space-time from a pair of merging black holes have been recorded in unprecedented detail, enabling physicists to test predictions of general relativity The loudest collision ever recorded between two black holes has allowed scientists to test Einstein's theory of general relativity in unprecedented detail, showing that the physicist's predictions were once again correct. In 2025, an international collaboration of gravitational wave detectors, made up of ultra-sensitive laser arrays, ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - On those dark, moonless nights, when Yosemite is engulfed in quiet spirals of cool mist, magic unfolds in the skies above its towering El Capitan. Rising 3,000 feet from the valley floor, the ancient stone gets bathed in starlight. Swimming in a volcanic silence, zillions of stars look down upon it with their glittering, icy gaze. The sky erupts into fire, and physics shakes hands with poetry as the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest neighbor of the Milky Way, emerges from the vicious blackness of ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Europa has long stood out as a prime place to search for life beyond Earth, thanks to the global ocean hidden beneath its cracked ice shell. But water alone is not enough – life also needs energy. A new modeling study suggests that energy may be scarce at Europa's seafloor. The researchers found that the moon's rocky interior is likely quiet and largely inactive beneath its deep ocean. That calm seafloor would limit the chemical fuel available to support life today. ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - While it's the same size as Earth, it is anything like our Pale Blue Dot. NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is no longer operating, but its data still has surprises. Astronomers re-checking observations from Kepler's extended K2 mission have identified what looks like a small planet crossing in front of a nearby star — an Earth-size candidate that may take about a year to orbit, yet would likely be far colder than Earth. The candidate is coined HD 137010 b. It would orbit a K-type dwarf star ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - When it comes to a trip to the Red Planet, your mileage may vary — literally. Earth and Mars are constantly moving, but they don't stay a constant distance apart. Furthermore, spacecraft from Earth don't travel in a straight line to the Red Planet. Instead, astronauts leaving Earth would follow a path known as the Hohmann transfer orbit, an ellipse from where Earth is now to where Mars will be in the future. This orbit requires the least energy (and thus the least fuel) and allows the ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. ! , Earn Your First Badge Keep earning badges See what you've unlocked. Members Exclusive The newly discovered sungrazing comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) will undergo an extremely close slingshot around our star in early April, and could become bright enough to be seen without a telescope during the ... [Read More]

Feb 9th, 2026 - It's much bigger than what we see on Earth. In some ways, Venus is very much like Earth: it's a rocky planet with a comparable size, density, and bulk composition. But Venus is a nightmare; the air is a thick soup of CO2, and the surface temperature is hot enough to melt lead. This exceptionally thick atmosphere also makes Venus much harder to study directly. We knew Venus had volcanoes because the surface is scarred with thousands of ancient flows. However, the "plumbing" of that volcanism was ... [Read More]

Feb 7th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Solar flares don't begin with a bang. They start small. In fact, until recently, scientists could barely see the early warning signs. A new set of close-up observations of the Sun now shows that a massive solar flare can grow out of tiny disturbances that stack up fast and spiral out of control. The slow start belied what was to follow. The Sun's atmosphere turned into a chaotic scene filled with glowing plasma blobs that fell back toward the surface, even after the main ... [Read More]

Feb 6th, 2026 - Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, February 6 The bright star Sirius dominates the southern sky late this evening, blazing high in the south around 10 P.M. local time. You can use this sparkling star to point your way to the open cluster M47 in Puppis the Stern, best seen in the dark moonless window that lasts until nearly 11 P.M.  From Sirius this evening, M47 lies about 12.4° east-northeast, or to the left in the sky as you face south around 10 P.M. If your ... [Read More]

Feb 6th, 2026 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. ! , Earn Your First Badge Keep earning badges See what you've unlocked. Members Exclusive A vast, flat sheet of dark matter may solve the long-standing mystery of why our neighboring galaxy Andromeda is speeding toward us while our other neighbors are moving away from us. Facebook X Whatsapp ... [Read More]