Could the remains of a ‘dead’ comet still be in the solar system? Astronomers are still searching 6 years later

The fate of a comet that was predicted to pass close to Earth remains a mystery five years after its dramatic breakup in the inner solar system.

How are gas giant exoplanets born? James Webb Space Telescope provides new clues

Relatedly, astronomers may have just pushed the upper size limit of what counts as a planet.

Italy’s 2026 Winter Olympic venues from space | Space photo of the day for Feb. 10, 2026

ESA marked the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics by capturing the venue from low-Earth orbit.

A city on the moon: Why SpaceX shifted its focus away from Mars

Just 13 months after declaring the moon “a distraction,” Elon Musk has announced that Earth’s nearest neighbor is now the focus of SpaceX’s settlement plans. What changed?

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS survived its flyby of the sun — and gave up some secrets in the process

Interstellar comets are the original cosmic explorers, and by studying their metallic whispers, we are learning the secrets of worlds we may never see directly.

The heart of a giant telescope | Space photo of the day for Feb. 9, 2026

There are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to building the world’s largest telescope.

Venus may have an underground tunnel carved by volcano eruptions

Scientists analyzing decades-old NASA’s Magellan data have identified only the second reported lava tube on Venus.

What Americans lose if their National Center for Atmospheric Research is dismantled

Five ways dismantling NCAR will cost the American people, and two ways to save it.

The way Earth’s surface moves has a bigger impact on shifting the climate than we knew

New research reveals the source of this carbon – and the driving forces behind it – are far more complex than previously thought.

James Webb Space Telescope finds precursors to ‘building blocks of life’ in nearby galaxy

“We found an unexpected chemical complexity, with abundances far higher than predicted by current theoretical models.”