returned much sooner. A Descent Over the Pacific Ocean The spacecraft known as Van Allen Probe A has now reentered Earth’s atmosphere. According to tracking by the US Space Force, the satellite came down over the Pacific Ocean west of the Galapagos...

with no helium absorption apparent in the time series (see Fig. 3). Arrows indicate absorption features from Earth’s atmosphere that are masked in (B). (B) Time series spectra of LHS 1140b in the stellar rest frame. Colors indicate the percentage...

Astronomers reclassify a nearby exoplanet, placing it among the most promising potentially habitable worlds, boosting hopes for life beyond Earth. Located about 25 light‑years from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis, the exoplanet GJ 3378b...

carbon dioxide was most clearly observed in exoplanet atmospheres by space telescopes. Infrared instruments above Earth’s atmosphere have the advantage of avoiding interference from our own planet’s carbon dioxide. Now, researchers have shown that it...

A new model published in Nature Geoscience predicts when Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere will eventually collapse, marking a turning point for life. Our planet’s hospitable, oxygen-rich atmosphere is a fleeting luxury in the grander timeline of the...

suggest a surface pressure of only 100–200 nanobars, translating to a layer five to ten million times less dense than Earth’s atmosphere. Even Pluto’s tenuous atmosphere, averaging about 10 millibars, is orders of magnitude thicker. The puzzle deepens...

event allowed it to traverse two billion years of cosmic distance and still leave a detectable fingerprint on Earth’s atmosphere. “We’ve been measuring gamma-ray bursts since the 1960s, and this is the strongest ever measured,” explains co-author Pietro...

come from? A meteor, commonly known as a “shooting star,” occurs when debris, often from asteroids or comets, enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up due to friction with air molecules. This interaction creates a streak of light visible from the ground....

New data shows Pluto’s atmosphere is shifting unexpectedly, sparking fresh investigations into the dwarf planet’s evolving climate. New observations suggest Pluto’s tenuous atmosphere is beginning to thin as the dwarf planet drifts farther from the...

Astronomers confirm the first atmosphere on a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone, proving an Earth-sized world can retain air for billions of years. Astronomers have captured the first clear sign of an atmosphere around the rocky exoplanet LHS 1140...

Scientists propose a bold plan to protect Earth from the Sun’s deadly expansion billions of years in the future. In roughly a billion years the Sun will exhaust its nuclear fuel and swell into a red giant, a transformation that could strip Earth of its...

Scientists discover nearby exoplanet with unique features that set it apart, sparking excitement for further study. A new rocky super‑Earth, designated Gliese 3378b, has been confirmed orbiting a nearby red dwarf only 25 light‑years from Earth. The...

New evidence reveals that Earth and Mars followed distinct evolutionary paths, challenging long-held theories about their shared planetary origins. Despite their shared origins within the same primordial disk of gas and dust, Earth and Mars followed...

Astronomers have discovered a surprising atmosphere on a scorching lava world previously thought to be a barren, airless rock. Astronomers have identified a unique rocky exoplanet, known as HD 3167 b, which stands out as the coolest “lava world” yet...

Decades of hidden Earth signals reveal Beneath the Pacific basin, a vast pocket of liquid iron altered its flow direction near 2010, hinting that Earth’s inner dynamics can undergo rapid shifts. The planet’s outer core, a massive layer of swirling...

of oxygen when exposed to oxidizing conditions. While this discovery does not solve the long-standing mystery of how Earth’s atmosphere became oxygenated, it introduces a potential mechanism for transporting oxidizing power from the deep mantle toward...

Tiny chemical clues inside Moon dust show what kinds of asteroids hit the Earth–Moon system for billions of years, and why those impacts added very little water to Earth. Earth has a short memory. Its surface is always changing as continents move,...

Contrail, short for "condensation trail," is a common term used to describe the white streaks seen in the sky behind airplanes. These trails are formed when hot exhaust gases from jet engines mix with the cold air in the upper atmosphere. Contrail,...

Scientists tracked two ESA satellites burning through Earth’s atmosphere, capturing rare, high-stakes data on spacecraft reentry and atmospheric interactions. Researchers have successfully executed one of the most high-definition observation campaigns...

Scientists discovered that earthquake sensors across California recorded the sonic booms of a spacecraft reentering Earth’s atmosphere, allowing them to track its breakup in surprising detail. Just before sunrise on 2 April 2024, people across parts of...