A Second Interstellar Object May Be Streaking through Our Solar System
The “fluke” find of a possible visitor from another star after the 2017 discovery of ‘Oumuamua offers thrilling scientific opportunities
Stories by Jonathan O'Callaghan
The Gravitational-Wave “Revolution” Is Underway
As the fourth anniversary of the first detection approaches, the field continues to mature—with a bright future ahead
India Loses Contact with Lunar Lander
The Chandrayaan-2 mission’s Vikram lander is presumed lost after falling silent in the final moments of its descent
Map Reveals Parts of the U.S. Northeast Most Vulnerable to a Geomagnetic Superstorm
The composition of ground rock in a area influences the likelihood of electrical blackouts from solar storms
Earth’s Magnetic Field Reversal Took Three Times Longer Than Thought
A new study suggests the last field reversal 773,000 years ago took 22,000 years to occur, which could explain some of the inner workings of our planet’s core
One Search to (Almost) Rule Them All: Hundreds of Hidden Planets Found in Kepler Data
Improved data analysis could substantially increase the total known planets from NASA’s K2 mission, revealing fascinating new worlds and intriguing planetary patterns
Mysterious Outburst’s Quiet Cosmic Home Yields More Questions Than Answers
For the first time, astronomers have pinpointed the location of a nonrepeating fast radio burst, and the result defies expectations
European Comet Interceptor Could Visit an Interstellar Object
Launching in 2028, the European Space Agency’s newly announced mission will wait in space for an exciting target
Ending in 2020, NASA’s Infrared Spitzer Mission Leaves a Gap in Astronomy
Delays to the James Webb Space Telescope will result in at least a yearlong hiatus in space-based infrared observations
From the Lunar Far Side, China’s Rover Reveals the Moon’s Hidden Depths
The Chang’e-4 mission appears to have found material excavated from a frozen magma ocean far below the lunar surface
SpaceX’s Starlink Could Cause Cascades of Space Junk
Plans for thousands of new communications satellites would revolutionize global telecommunications but also raise risks of disaster in Earth orbit
An Exomoon Eludes Astronomers—for Now
Researchers may have already glimpsed the first-known exomoon—a satellite of a planet orbiting another star; but confirmation of that potential discovery could be many years away
A Heavy-Metal Planet Orbiting a Dead Star May Foretell Our World's End
The iron core of what was once a world has been found around a white dwarf star, shedding light on the final days of planetary systems—including our own
Would New Physics Colliders Make Big Discoveries or Wander a Particle Desert?
Around the globe, imminent decisions on proposed next-generation experiments are set to shape particle physics for decades to come
Sound by the Pound: Surprising Discovery Hints Sonic Waves Carry Mass
Some sounds might possess a tiny but measurable amount of negative gravitational mass
In Search of Life’s Origins, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 Spacecraft Lands on an Asteroid
The mission to Asteroid Ryugu could return samples of the space rock to Earth in 2020
Astronomers Traverse the Globe to Shadow “Lucky Stars”
A surge in occultation science is allowing astronomers to study the sun’s asteroids, planets and moons like never before
Voyager 2 Spacecraft Enters Interstellar Space
After a journey of more than four decades, Voyager 2 has passed beyond the sun’s influence
China Launches First-Ever Mission to the Moon’s Farside
In late December or early January the Chang’e 4 spacecraft will touch down at a site near the lunar south pole within the solar system’s largest-known impact crater
"Schrödinger's Bacterium" Could Be a Quantum Biology Milestone
A recent experiment may have placed living organisms in a state of quantum entanglement
