Astronomy

A close-up view of MercuryResearchers find the planet may have had a dynamic past.

X-ray monitoring mission comes to an endThe RXTE satellite retires after 16 years.

Lincoln Laboratory helps celebrate the official unveiling of the Space Surveillance TelescopeThe laboratory developed enabling technologies for the telescope

Astronomers find a dark matter galaxy far, far awayDiscovery could offer clues on the nature of dark matter.

3 Questions: Richard Binzel on near-Earth asteroids'2011 MD,' found by a Lincoln Lab team, will pass close to the planet on Monday.

Exploring explorationFrom deep space to deep sea, two-day symposium examined MIT’s impacts and innovations.

Cold asteroids may have a soft heartPartially molten small bodies may be abundant in space, and may have given the Earth its oceans.

EAPS, physics professor James Elliot dies at 67Led team that discovered the rings of Uranus in 1977.

3 Questions: Sara Seager on discovering a trove of new planetsNASA’s Kepler orbiting telescope has found hundreds of new possible planets, including 54 in the so-called 'habitable zone.'

Explained: Transiting exoplanetsHow astronomers learn whether a planet is habitable by observing slight changes in light emanating from its parent star.

And then there was lightAstronomers probe ancient radio waves for clues about the universe’s first light.

The final frontierNow that an Earthlike planet has been discovered, the key to confirming that it can host life will be to study its atmosphere in detail

Learning from hot JupitersBy studying how massive planets may have formed, MIT astrophysicist sets the stage for studying smaller, more Earthlike planets.

Building a list of Earth candidatesMIT researchers increase their odds of detecting an Earthlike planet by working on a combination of satellite missions.

Astronomers detect first carbon-rich exoplanetDiscovery opens door to new class of exoplanets, including rocky planets rich in diamond and graphite.

Nergis Mavalvala wins MacArthur ‘genius’ grantPhysics professor and 2 alumni are awarded $500,000 in no-strings-attached funding.

Explained: the Doppler effectThe same phenomenon behind changes in the pitch of a moving ambulance’s siren is helping astronomers locate and study distant planets.

Haystack’s Alan Rogers wins Reber Medal

3 Questions: Richard Binzel on astronomers’ powerful new toolPan-STARRS, a telescope designed to reveal the ‘unexpected surprises’ in our solar system, including possible threats to Earth, just became fully operational.

In a first, astronomers detect strong winds on an exoplanetResearchers see tempestuous atmosphere on a planet located 150 light years from Earth.

Coordinated stargazingMIT astronomer leads the first team to study a Kuiper Belt object during a stellar occultation.

In the search for Earthlike exoplanets, GJ 436b has much to tell usFirst detailed analysis of the atmosphere of a Neptune-sized planet reveals surprisingly low methane levels, presents "new territory" for researching planets outside our solar system

Unraveling black hole spinRetrograde spin of supermassive black holes may create jets that control galaxy evolution

Extreme makeovers in spaceResearch 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 planetsResearchers 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 bornTime-lapse movie shows that massive stars — which may hold clues about the origins of life — form like their smaller siblings.

ET: Check your voicemailNew 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 planetsMIT 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 intriguesAn exoplanet with an extremely tilted orbit raises new interest in stellar astronomy.