3 Questions: The first asteroid sample returned to Earth
Richard Binzel describes how asteroid dirt and dust delivered by OSIRIS-Rex, with help from MIT, may reveal clues to the solar system’s origins.
Mikhail Ivanov wins 2024 New Horizons in Physics Breakthrough Prize
MIT assistant professor of physics shares award for understanding the large-scale structure of the universe.
3 Questions: A bigger, better space-ripple detector
The MIT-led Cosmic Explorer project aims to detect gravitational waves from the earliest universe.
Newly discovered planet has longest orbit yet detected by the TESS mission
The frosty gas giant was discovered in a system that also hosts a warm Jupiter.
3Q: Exploring the universe’s “first light”
After the James Webb Space Telescope’s first year in service, astronomers are awash in new observations that illuminate the oldest stars and galaxies.
Three Spanish MIT physics postdocs receive Botton Foundation fellowships
Recipients Luis Antonio Benítez, Carolina Cuesta-Lazaro, and Fernando Romero López receive support for their scientific research.
A telescope’s last view
Astronomers discover the last three planets the Kepler telescope observed before going dark.
Gravitational-wave detectors start next observing run to explore the secrets of the universe
The next run will be the most sensitive search yet for gravitational waves.
In a first, astronomers spot a star swallowing a planet
Earth will meet a similar fate in 5 billion years.
Astronomers detect the closest example yet of a black hole devouring a star
The event was spotted in infrared data — also a first — suggesting further searches in this band could turn up more such bursts.
New black hole images reveal a glowing, fluffy ring and a high-speed jet
The observations will help astronomers pin down the physics of the plasma around black holes.
A message to meteorite hunters: Put down your magnets!
A new study shows that simple hand magnets erase a meteorite’s magnetic memory.
Scientists map gusty winds in a far-off neutron star system
The 2D map of this “disk wind” may reveal clues to galaxy formation.
3Q: What we learned from the asteroid-smashing DART mission
Saverio Cambioni discusses new results revealing the redirected asteroid Dimorphos to be a dust-trailing rubble-pile.
Study: Without more data, a black hole’s origins can be “spun” in any direction
Current measurements of black holes are not enough to nail down how the invisible giants form in the universe, researchers say.