Sharmila Kuthunur

A new water loss mechanism on Venus explains how the planet lost all its water, turning the planet from a potentially habitable world into the parched hellscape we know today.

Newfound rocks on Mars suggest the planet may have once sported an oxygen-rich atmosphere, making it more Earth-like and hospitable to life than previously thought.

An incredibly brief, ultrabright explosion has led astronomers to a newfound magnetic star outside the Milky Way, which could be the first of many extragalactic magnetars, according to new research.

A dog-like, bio-inspired robot called Spirit is still learning to walk, but could one day be deployed on the moon to explore steep, potentially hazardous areas with a team of robot companions.

Observations of Venus taken with the BepiColombo space probe show that our cosmic neighbor is leaking significant amounts of carbon and oxygen from its atmosphere, and researchers can't totally explain why.

Ripples in space-time point to the merger of a neutron star with another mystery object. The object, which falls right within the mass-gap range, sheds light on a long-sought, murky realm.

In a rare observation, scientists found a baby star "sneezing" gas, dust and magnetic energy out of its disk. This behavior could help solve a longstanding mystery about how stars form without tearing themselves apart.

Scientists using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument have unveiled the largest 3D map of the universe ever. The results suggest that dark energy, the mysterious force pulling the universe apart, may be weakening, challenging prevailing theories of cosmology.

The long-awaited total solar eclipse of 2024 has begun — and you can watch NASA's unparalleled view of totality right now in this free live stream.

A new satellite galaxy discovered orbiting the Milky Way is either an incredibly ancient, soon-to-fragment clump of stars or the most dark-matter-dominated dwarf galaxy ever found.

Three rockets ferrying science instruments will be launched into the eclipse's shadow on April 8. Here's what scientists hope to learn.

Scientists found a monster black hole that 'hiccups' every 8.5 days, and a smaller black hole that keeps punching through its accretion disk may be to blame.

The icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter shoot enormous geysers into space that may contain evidence of life. New research shows that NASA only needs to grab a few grains of ice from these plumes to find out for sure.

Scientists shared the first comprehensive science results from NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, revealing the out-of-this-world makeup of asteroid Bennu.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected the oldest "dead" galaxy ever observed, at just 700 million years after the Big Bang. The stalled-out relic defies explanation by our current knowledge of the early cosmos.

More than 50 years after the Apollo era, major governments and well-funded private companies still struggle with lunar landing missions. Why is landing on the moon so hard in 2024?

A group of extremely bright stars may be slowly reshaping the Orion Nebula and stopping one of their neighbors from forming planets, new James Webb Space Telescope observations suggest.

A distant star system housing 6 planets that move in 'mathematically perfect' orbits has ignited a search for possible alien technosignatures.

A green "Grinch-like" shape in a supernova remnant imaged by the James Webb telescope may have come from a blast debris field, scientists proposed

Ambitious new missions to the moon, Venus, Jupiter and more are planned for 2024. Here is a preview of the exciting year in space ahead.

An analysis of 42 ancient stars in the Milky Way reveals the first hints of nuclear fission in the cosmos, hinting at the existence of elements far heavier than anything found naturally on Earth.

Scientists found signs of organic molecules in the first samples of potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu, as well as a 'head scratching' material that has yet to be identified.

The early galaxy AzTECC71 is so far away it keeps disappearing from telescope observations. A new study by the James Webb Space Telescope finally pins it down.

Hydrogen detected in Apollo-era moon rocks suggests that future astronauts could harvest water available right on the moon to use as rocket propellant and for life support.

New research finds that certain large exoplanets are shrinking due to internal processes, creating an abundance of rocky 'super-Earths'.