Dwarf planet Ceres may once have had an ancient, global ocean
Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt, may once have had an ocean beneath its icy crust, data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft suggests.
Amanda Doyle
Astronomers track down elusive pairs of supermassive black holes
Astronomers have devised a technique to seek out instances of double black holes, and have discovered five new pairs.
Blue planet Earth was once orange like Titan
Earth was like Titan once – an orange world engulfed in a thick haze of methane. Learning about its past may help understand exoplanets.
Lunar crater offers clues to impact that killed the dinosaurs
New studies of Schrödinger crater on the Moon are helping to further our understanding of the Chicxulub crater on Earth – ground zero for the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.
Quakes could boost chances of life on Mars
Seismic activity could release hydrogen gas that gives life on Mars the chance to exist, according to scientific research near fault lines on Earth.
NASA’s Dawn probe finds ice volcano on dwarf planet Ceres
An icy volcano – known as a cryovolcano – has been discovered on the dwarf planet Ceres by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft.
Amateurs spot exoplanet with fast-changing orbit
The citizen science project Planet Hunters has detected an exoplanet that fell through the cracks of the automated computer searches.
NASA’s Cassini captures defiant clouds on Titan
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected a massive cloud of hydrogen cyanide at Titan’s south pole which simply should not be there.
Astronomers study star that spins slower on the inside
Astronomers have discovered a star where the interior rotates slower than the outer layers – the first time this has been detected in a main sequence star.
Astronomers search for more planets like Venus
Astronomers are looking for planets like Venus. A “Venus zone” will help single out which exoplanets are most likely to imitate our own inhospitable neighbouring world.
Stream of gas stretches for 2.6 million light-years
The longest ever stream of hydrogen gas has been discovered acting as a bridge between galaxies 500 light years away.
Coldest white dwarf found orbiting nearby neutron star
A binary system of two dead stars has revealed the coldest, dimmest white dwarf discovered to date.
