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A purple sphere surrounded by alternating white and blue bands and an oter white band against a black background

'Traffic jams' around Uranus could solve the mystery of its weak radiation belts

By Robert Lea published

In 1986, the Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered Uranus has a strangely weak radiation belt. Now, researchers think this could be linked to "traffic jams" caused by the world's warped magnetic field.

Uranus
a large crater on the grey, cratered surface of the moon

SpaceX Starship landings could contaminate water ice on the moon

By Leonard David published

Could human landing systems touching down on the moon deliver water from their rocket exhaust plumes? New research says it's a possibility.

The moon
graphic illustration showing a fiery solar flare from the sun and earth in the foreground.

Are there more solar flares than expected during this solar cycle?

By Ryan French published

We explore why comparing the number of solar flares between solar cycles is more complicated than you may think and why many have got it wrong.

The Sun
A swirling storm of white clouds twists over the ocean toward land.

Hurricane Beryl makes landfall as Category 1 hurricane along eastern Texas (video)

By Meredith Garofalo published

The strongest hurricane to occur this early in the year makes landfall in Matagorda, Texas, as a Category 1 early Monday (July 8) morning.

Earth
NEOWISE is depicted in an artist’s concept in front of an image of the infrared sky that the mission captured. The string of red dots moving across the sky near the center of the image is Holda, the first asteroid the space telescope detected shortly after being reactivated in 2013.

After 14 years in space, NASA's prolific NEOWISE asteroid-hunter is about to shut down

By Samantha Mathewson published

A NASA asteroid-hunting mission is coming to a close, paving the way for the next generation of planetary defense efforts.

The Sun
four people in black flight suits stand in front of a microphone, with the nasa logo in the background

NASA's 1st year-long mock Mars mission wraps up in Houston

By Mike Wall last updated

Four volunteers exited a mock Mars habitat at NASA's Johnson Space Center on July 6, bringing the agency's first year-long simulated Red Planet mission to an end.

Mars
a rendered image of a man standing on the rocky grey surface of an asteroid, a space probe hovers in the distance behind him against a starry sky of space.

Jumping on an asteroid: How VR is being used to visit worlds we can never reach

By Jackson Ryan published

At the 2024 Astronomical Society of Australia's Annual Scientific Meeting, I got to walk on an asteroid in virtual reality. Here's what I found in Ryugu World.

Asteroids
looping purple lines

Earth has 7 strange quasi-moons — and you could name one of them

By Monisha Ravisetti published

The International Astronomical Union has partnered with the Radiolab podcast to present a quasi-moon-naming contest.

Earth
a grainy image of the same space rocket shown from many different angles, presented in three rows of seven images, all against black space

2 asteroids just zipped by Earth, and NASA caught footage of the action

By Victoria Corless published

NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar has collected invaluable information about two asteroids that flew very close to Earth. Don't worry, neither posed a threat.

Asteroids
a lumpy rough metallic rock

The early solar system was donut-shaped, meteorite study suggests

By Stefanie Waldek published

Researchers studying iron meteorites suggest that the early solar system took the shape of a donut, not a dartboard as previously thought.

Solar System
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