World Explained · Space
Webb found a hidden planet by reading its chemical fingerprint
Beta Pictoris d was concealed by a bright debris disk. Webb separated it from the glare by finding molecules and motion inside a spatially resolved spectrum.
Curiosity Desk category
Space
Every published story filed under Space, newest first. Each one passed the same source, image and editorial checks.
6 published storiesNewest first
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World Explained · Space
The asteroid that missed its radar appointment and turned out to be a comet
A near-Earth object failed to appear where gravity predicted. Its tiny unexplained push led astronomers to a faint tail and a new identity.
World Explained · Space
The oldest light we can see fills the entire sky
Look in any direction far enough and you meet the same ancient glow: light released when the universe first became transparent, about 380,000 years after the big bang.
World Explained · Space
Why are sunsets on Mars blue? What its sky really looks like
Does Mars have a blue sky? Usually not. Its dusty daytime sky looks tan to reddish, but a blue-grey halo can gather around the Sun at sunrise and sunset.
World Explained · Space
How a day on Venus outlasts an entire Venus year
Venus needs about 243 Earth days to turn once but only about 225 to orbit the Sun. Then its backwards spin creates an even stranger sunrise clock.
World Explained · Space
Why the Moon is slowly moving away from Earth
Mirrors left on the Moon reveal a change too small to see but large enough to reshape two worlds: the lunar orbit grows by about 3.8 centimetres each year.
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