Planetary science and exploration

Illustration of NASA's Parker Solar Probe in front of the Sun.

3Q: A bold mission to touch the sun

MIT’s John Belcher discusses the launch of the Parker Solar Probe, which will fly directly into the sun’s atmosphere.

August 13, 2018

This artist’s illustration depicts the destruction of a young planet, which scientists may have witnessed for the first time.

X-ray data may be first evidence of a star devouring a planet

New data may explain star’s mysterious dimming.

July 18, 2018

Pictured, a rendering of a river system in Oregon.

Study finds climate determines shapes of river basins

Results may help identify ancient climates on Earth or other planets.

July 17, 2018

There may be more than a quadrillion tons of diamond hidden in the Earth’s interior, according to a new study from MIT and other universities.

Sound waves reveal diamond cache deep in Earth’s interior

Study finds 1–2 percent of Earth’s oldest mantle rocks are made from diamond.

July 16, 2018

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope orbits the Sun in concert with the Earth, slowly drifting away from Earth.

Nearly 80 exoplanet candidates identified in record time

Search considered successful “dress rehearsal” for exoplanet hunter TESS.

June 20, 2018

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover snaps a self-portrait on Vera Rubin Ridge.

3 Questions: Roger Summons on finding organic matter on Mars

Discovery adds to evidence suggesting that Mars was at one time habitable.

June 7, 2018

This test image from one of the four cameras aboard the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) captures a swath of the southern sky along the plane of our galaxy. More than 200,000 stars are visible. The image, which is centered in the constellation Centaurus, includes dark tendrils from the Coal Sack Nebula and the bright emission nebula Ced 122 (upper right).The bright star at bottom cente...

TESS takes initial test image

Exoplanet-seeking satellite developed by MIT swings by moon toward final orbit.

May 18, 2018

An artist concept depicts TESS in front of a lava planet orbiting its host star.

Ushering in the next phase of exoplanet discovery

Professor Sara Seager previews a new era of discovery as a leader of the TESS mission, which is expected to find some 20,000 extrasolar planets.

May 3, 2018

A set of flight camera electronics on one of the TESS cameras, developed by the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (MKI), will transmit exoplanet data from the camera to a computer aboard the spacecraft that will process it before transmitting it back to scientists on Earth.

TESS readies for takeoff

Satellite developed by MIT aims to discover thousands of nearby exoplanets, including at least 50 Earth-sized ones.

April 12, 2018

A young sun-like star encircled by its planet-forming disk of gas and dust.

Computer searches telescope data for evidence of distant planets

Machine-learning system uses physics principles to augment data from NASA crowdsourcing project.

March 29, 2018

Researchers at MIT and the Australian National University have found that seismic waves are essentially blind to a very common substance found throughout the Earth's interior: water.

Scientists find seismic imaging is blind to water

Findings may lead scientists to reinterpret seismic maps of the Earth's interior.

March 14, 2018

Ian Wong’s work seeks to decipher the history of our solar system by studying its most primitive bodies.

EAPS welcomes Heising-Simons fellow Ian Wong

The 51 Pegasi b Postdoctoral Fellowship provides junior scientists the opportunity to conduct theoretical, observational, and experimental research in planetary astronomy.

February 7, 2018

Five new planets have been discovered outside our solar system, all orbiting a sun-like star located within the constellation Aquarius, nearly 620 light years from Earth. The alien worlds are considered super-Earths, sizing in at two to three times larger than our own blue planet.

Citizen scientists discover five tightly packed exoplanets

The planetary system’s dense configuration gives clues to its formation

January 11, 2018

Magnetic reconnection is a complicated phenomenon that Nuno Loureiro, an associate professor of nuclear science and engineering and of physics at MIT, has been studying in detail for more than a decade. To explain the process, he gives a well-studied example: “If you watch a video of a solar flare” as it arches outward and then collapses back onto the sun’s surface, “that’s magnetic reco...

Study sheds light on turbulence in astrophysical plasmas

Theoretical analysis uncovers new mechanisms in plasma turbulence.

December 1, 2017

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. Several of the planets are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces.

Neighboring exoplanets may hold water, study finds

Observations and modeling suggest TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets may have held onto water, billions of years after their formation.

August 31, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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