Rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet is missing an atmosphere
Study reports on search for an atmosphere around a planet somewhat similar to ours.
TESS discovers three new planets nearby, including temperate “sub-Neptune”
Planetary system orbiting an unusually quiet star is ideal for future habitability searches.
3Q: Julien de Wit on searching for red worlds in the northern skies
MIT has completed the installation of its newest exoplanet-hunting telescope, Artemis, in the Canary Islands, joining the SPECULOOS network.
How to detect life on Mars
Scientists from the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes instrument team develop method to detect the tiniest traces of life on other planetary bodies.
Maria Zuber awarded the Gerard P. Kuiper Prize in Planetary Sciences
Honor recognizes scientists whose achievements have most advanced our understanding of planetary systems.
MIT, Blue Origin to cooperate on sending research experiment to the moon
MIT community input will help determine the focus of the study to be carried aboard Blue Moon lander.
TESS discovers its first Earth-sized planet
Orbiting a nearby star, the new planet is the smallest identified so far by the TESS mission.
Earliest life may have arisen in ponds, not oceans
Study finds shallow bodies of water were probably more suitable for Earth’s first life forms.
Lighting up exoplanets
The Heising-Simons Foundation selects Clara Sousa-Silva and Benjamin Rackham for 51 Pegasi b Fellowships at MIT.
MIT celebrates 50th anniversary of historic moon landing
Symposium featuring former astronauts and other Apollo mission luminaries examines the program’s legacy.
Tectonics in the tropics trigger Earth’s ice ages, study finds
Major tectonic collisions near the equator have caused three ice ages in the last 540 million years.
Engineers program marine robots to take calculated risks
Algorithm could help autonomous underwater vehicles explore risky but scientifically-rewarding environments.
MIT’s REXIS and Bennu’s watery surface
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample-return spacecraft, carrying MIT instrument, arrived at asteroid in December; now begins the science to select a sampling location.
TESS discovers its third new planet, with longest orbit yet
Measurements indicate a dense, gaseous, “sub-Neptune” world, three times the size of Earth.
Tiny satellites could be “guide stars” for huge next-generation telescopes
Researchers design CubeSats with lasers to provide steady reference light for telescopes investigating distant planets.