May 2025

During the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and 1970s, the USSR launched 29 spacecraft towards Venus, the planet scientists call Earth’s “twin sister“. Three flew past Venus, and went into orbit around the Sun. Sixteen orbited or landed on Venus, where they experienced a climate often described as “hellish”.Ten got stuck in Earth orbit. All […]

The idea that our Solar System is representative of other solar systems hasn’t survived the age of exoplanet discovery. Kepler and TESS have shown us that our system doesn’t even contain the most common type of planet: sub-Neptunes. These planets pose a mystery to planetary scientists, and the JWST is helping unravel the mystery.Sub-Neptunes are

It’s time to get outside and look at the night sky: the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is about to peak. Over May 5 to 6, the sky over the southern tropics will rain the most cosmic dust of the annual event, glittering with light as it burns up on atmospheric entry..The shower itself will continue to late May,