Space

  1. Three images of a cyclone at the north pole of Uranus are seen in different wavelengths. The image on the left shows the cyclone in a white color, the middle cyclone a green color and the cyclone on the right is an orange color.
    Space

    A cyclone has been spotted swirling over Uranus’ north pole for the first time

    Voyager 2 hinted at a cyclone at Uranus’ south pole. Now Earth-based observations give the first direct evidence of a storm at the ice giant’s north pole.

    By Allison Gasparini
  2. A false-color image of a watery plume coming off Saturn's moon Enceladus.
    Planetary Science

    JWST captured Enceladus’ plume spraying water nearly 10,000 kilometers into space

    NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals the rate at which Saturn’s moon Enceladus spews water and where that water ends up.

    By Lisa Grossman
  3. A photo of a woman putting a spacesuit helmet on astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
    Neuroscience

    Brain cavities that swell in space may need at least 3 years to recover

    MRI scans of astronauts show that duration in space and time between flights affect how much the brain’s fluid-filled cavities expand during missions.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  4. An illustration of the Parker Solar Probe heading towards the sun with orange light streaks shooting around it.
    Astronomy

    The Parker Solar Probe may have spotted the origin of high-speed solar winds

    Kinks in the magnetic fields near the surface of the sun appear to be the cause of fast-moving flows in the solar wind.

    By James R. Riordon
  5. A snapshot of a collapsing star spewing jets, colored red and green, outward against the backdrop of space
    Astronomy

    A simulation of a dying star shows how it could create gravitational waves

    Massive jets and an expanding cocoon of debris from a collapsing star could be a source of never-before-seen ripples in spacetime.

    By Lisa Grossman
  6. illustration of a black hole
    Astronomy

    Weird black holes may hold secrets of the early universe

    Big black holes in little galaxies, rogue black holes and other behemoths could offer clues to cosmic evolution.

    By Ashley Yeager
  7. Mars' northern hemisphere, shown in false color that highlights lowlands near the north pole
    Planetary Science

    A quake on Mars showed its crust is thicker than Earth’s

    Seismic data from NASA’s Insight lander reveal the crust is roughly 50 kilometers thick, with the northern crust being thinner than the south’s.

    By Lisa Grossman
  8. An illustration of blue-gray clouds with bright blue and orange dots of light scattered throughout the image.
    Planetary Science

    Jupiter’s lightning bolts contort the same way as Earth’s

    Jovian lightning extends in jagged steps as it does on Earth, data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggest. The finding might aid the search for life.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  9. An image of Saturn and its rings.
    Planetary Science

    Saturn’s rings may be no more than 400 million years old

    An analysis of data from NASA’s defunct Cassini probe suggests Saturn's rings materialized more than 100 million years after trilobites appeared on Earth.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  10. An illustration of a reddish planet with swirling patterns depicting its radiation field
    Astronomy

    The first radiation belt outside the solar system has been spotted

    Encircling a Jupiter-sized body about 18 light-years from Earth, the radiation belt is 10 million times as bright as the ones around Jupiter.

    By Lisa Grossman
  11. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon in a spacesuit
    Space

    50 years ago, cosmic rays may have caused Apollo astronauts to see lights

    Apollo astronauts reported seeing flashes of light where there were none. Fifty years later, the flashes still mess with modern astronauts’ vision.

    By Helen Thompson
  12. An image showing multiple galaxies and stars in deep space. An inset closeup shows the supernova Refsdal as a bright smudge
    Astronomy

    A reappearing supernova offers a new measure of the universe’s expansion

    Supernova Refsdal blew up once but burst into view at least five times. The timing of its appearances provides clues to how fast the universe is growing.

    By James R. Riordon