Astronomy
Where Earth Got Its Water
A new theory shows Earth’s water was more locally sourced than ever thought before.
A New View of the Martian Globe
This map of Mars provides an in-depth look at its expansive geography and topography.
Saturn’s Rings Could Be Younger Than Flowers
We’re lucky that a relatively recent catastrophe created the gas-giant spectacle.
Why Do So Many Moons Have Oceans?
One question for Julie Castillo-Rogez, a planetary geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Searching for Life Under a Methane Rain
What future missions to Saturn's moon Titan will reveal about the universe.
What the Webb Telescope Really Showed Us About the Cosmos’ Beginning
And how the family business first took me there.
Astronomers Dig Up the Stars That Birthed the Milky Way
There once was a cosmic seed that sprouted the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have discovered its last surviving remnants.
The Dwarf Planet on Our Doorstep
The series of fortunate astrophysical events that gave us Ceres.
Shadows in the Big Bang Afterglow Reveal Invisible Cosmic Structures
Cosmologists are using secondary signatures from the cosmic microwave background to map the universe’s hidden matter.
How Will the Universe Evolve?
One question for Jillian Scudder, astrophysicist and author of “The Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries.”
Humans Could Go the Way of the Dinosaurs
The time is now to prepare for the cosmic object that could spell our end.
What Makes the Milky Way Special?
One question for Miguel Aragon, a computational physicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.











