TESS discovers its 1st Earth-sized exoplanet

Launched in 2018, TESS is NASA's new space-based exoplanet hunter. Now it's found its 1st Earth-sized world orbiting a nearby star. The discovery bodes well, scientists say, for finding more similar worlds in the near future.

Listen to 1st-ever recorded marsquake

On April 6, NASA’s Mars InSight lander captured the 1st-ever audio of a likely “marsquake.”

Did an interstellar traveler hit Earth in 2014?

'Oumuamua - 1st known object to sweep past us from beyond our solar system - caused a stir when astronomers spotted it in 2017. Now a new study suggests another interstellar object might have hit the Earth in 2014.

Universe’s 1st type of molecule found at last

Scientists have detected the 1st type of molecule that ever formed in the universe - a combination of helium and hydrogen called helium hydride - in a planetary nebula near the constellation Cygnus.

Scientists find new surprises about Titan’s lakes

Cassini data now reveal that some of Titan's lakes are surprisingly deep.

One comet, 70 thousand images

Scientists released the OSIRIS Image Viewer to make the amazing images of comet 67P - acquired by the Rosetta spacecraft - easily accessible on the internet.

Closest rocky exoplanets could support life

Intense UV radiation from red dwarf stars was thought to make potentially habitable exoplanets unable to support life. But a new study of the 4 nearest rocky worlds suggests otherwise.

Moon’s south pole possible landing site

NASA hopes to send astronauts to the surface of the moon in 5 years, and has planned a landing site where no human has yet been: the lunar south pole.

The strange case of Mars’ disappearing methane

In 2013, in a big success story, a Mars rover and orbiter made a near-simultaneous observation of methane in Mars' atmosphere. Now a newer mission orbiting Mars - ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter - has failed to detect methane. Why?

Jumbo exoplanet discovered in double system with a dead star

The giant exoplanet - 13 times more massive than Jupiter - is the first yet found that orbits a binary star system in which 1 of the 2 stars is dead.

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