New studies offer a clearer picture of how the outer solar system formed and evolved based on analyses of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and centaurs. The findings reveal the distribution of ices in ...

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto that is inserted beneath the Short Wave logo. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the ...

Samples from Ryugu, a small, near-Earth asteroid, preserve natural remanent magnetization (NRM) from the early history of the ...

Researchers analyzed 28 Ryugu asteroid samples and found preserved magnetic signals that record early solar system magnetic fields and water-driven alteration on its parent body.

A small, round piece of asteroid Ryugu (sample #91), called “S-lunar,” contains tiny particles (less than 1 mm) that will ...

Active small bodies—including comets, active asteroids, icy minor planets, and transitional objects—occupy a unique position in planetary science. As ...

Ever since scientists started looking at meteorites with microscopes, they’ve been puzzled–and fascinated–by what’s inside. Most meteorites are made of tiny beads of glass that date back to the ...

Microscopic crystals extracted from meteorites could help settle a debate about the birth of our patch of the Milky Way.

Scientists from MIT and their colleagues have estimated the lifetime of the solar nebula — a key stage during which much of the solar system evolution took shape. This new estimate suggests that the ...

A group of astronomers has found a solar system 116 light-years from Earth that seems to challenge current theories about how ...