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Boom! Bam! Boom! How to make a triple crater on Mars
Like many worlds in our solar system, Mars has prominent impact craters. A particularly unusual example is shown in this new image from ESA’s Mars Express: an ancient triplet composed of 3 overlapping craters.
November 11, 2020
2020’s second Friday the 13th is this Friday
November 13, 2020, will be the second of 2020's two Friday the 13ths. This Friday the 13th comes exactly 39 weeks - that is, the number 3 multiplied by the number 13 - before the next Friday the 13th on August 13, 2021. Whee!
November 11, 2020
Meet the hell planet with a magma ocean and rocky rain
Exoplanet K2-141b is fiery hot world that circles so close to its star that 1 side of the planet features a deep ocean of molten lava. Meanwhile, the other side is freezing cold.
November 11, 2020
Moon, Venus, Mercury before daybreak
These next several days, watch as the waning crescent moon joins up with the planets Mercury and Venus, plus the star Spica, in the eastern predawn/dawn sky.
November 10, 2020
Clovis made stone tools for only around 300 years
The Clovis, some of North America’s earliest inhabitants, only made stone tools during a brief 300-year period from 13,050 to 12,750 years ago, new research shows.
November 10, 2020
The International Space Station is 20 and going strong
20 years ago, three astronauts stepped aboard the ISS. It's since hosted residents from many countries, creating humanity’s first history of living in space.
November 9, 2020
Watch for Mercury, below Venus, during the week of November 10
For northerly latitudes, the coming week presents a golden opportunity to spot the most elusive bright planet - Mercury - in the east before sunup. The waning crescent moon, and dazzling Venus, can help you find it.
November 9, 2020
Why Arctic sea ice has stalled, and what it means for the rest of the world
In the next few decades, scientists expect we'll see an ice-free Arctic Ocean throughout the summer. That prospect got much closer in 2020, due in part to the exceptional summer heatwave that roiled the Russian Arctic.
November 8, 2020
Tips for watching N. Taurid meteors
The nominal peak of the North Taurid meteor shower is on the night of November 11-12, 2020.
November 8, 2020
Ancient life signs under dinosaur-killing Chicxulub crater
Researchers have found evidence for an ancient microbial ecosystem in a hydrothermal system beneath Mexico's Chicxulub Crater, thought to be the site of the impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
November 7, 2020
