Powering cube satellites
An electric propulsion technology for miniature satellites aims to give them more mobility — and may eventually allow them to take on deep-space missions.
Extreme makeovers in space
Research suggesting that near-Earth encounters can ‘shake’ asteroids opens the door to a new field: asteroid seismology
Team predicts satellite could locate hundreds of Earth-sized planets
Researchers say proposed satellite could represent astronomy’s ‘next big leap’ — one that may help find signs of life elsewhere in the universe.
A massive star is born
Time-lapse movie shows that massive stars — which may hold clues about the origins of life — form like their smaller siblings.
ET: Check your voicemail
New message beamed to the stars commemorates Earth’s first attempt to reach out to intelligent aliens
3 Questions: Sara Seager on searching for Earth-like planets
MIT planetary scientist discusses projects that aim to discover distant planets similar to our own, and what we can learn when we find them
A faraway planet intrigues
An exoplanet with an extremely tilted orbit raises new interest in stellar astronomy.
Bursting the sun's bubble
New observations indicate the heliosphere — the sun's sphere of influence — has a different shape than theorists had expected.
Tracking icy objects, across the globe
Pilot project sets the stage for MIT-led globe-girdling efforts to learn about icy relics of the solar system's birth.
The hunt for dark matter
MIT physicists are working on new detectors that may, at last, help them find the elusive particles thought to constitute up to a quarter of the universe.
Oddball stars explained
New observations solve longstanding mystery of tipped rotation. In addition to shedding light on how binary stars form, the explanation knocks down a possible challenge to Einstein's theory of relativity.