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Space & Planetary

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Jun-2026 06:16 ET (18-Jun-2026 10:16 GMT/UTC)

If the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion happened today, aviation radiation exposure would be radically altered – with “shielded pockets” in the north

University of Oulu, Finland
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Earth’s magnetic field acts as a vital shield against radiation arriving from space, but it is not constant. A new international study has examined how a reduction of the magnetic field similar to the Laschamps excursion would affect aviation on routes such as Helsinki–Dubai and Helsinki–New York if it occurred today.

Scribbles of discontent: Graffiti and banyulatin as works of literature

Ateneo de Manila University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The law often dismisses graffiti as “destruction,” “anarchy,” or even as mere “dirt.” But new research from the Ateneo de Manila University’s Filipino Department reveals what laws may not: that graffiti can be seen as works of literature emerging from unequal access to space and speech. Indeed, vandalism and bathroom graffiti—banyulatin in Filipino—beg us to ask why someone felt compelled to write them in the first place.

AI approach uncovers dozens of hidden planets in NASA’s TESS data

University of Warwick
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New AI tool validates over 100 new planets, finds thousands of candidates, and gives our best estimate for how likely it is to find certain planets around Sun-like stars.

Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Funder: UKRI

Astronomy student discovers second planet around young star

University of Galway
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Embargoed until 14:00 CET Tuesday March 24, 2026: An international team of astronomers have made the groundbreaking discovery of a second planet in the same system where they discovered another planet last year.

Detected at an early stage of formation in the disc around a young star, the young planet named WISPIT 2c is estimated to be about 5 million years-old and most likely ten times the mass of Jupiter.

The star, WISPIT 2 is located in the constellation of the Eagle, a prominent equatorial constellation visible in the summer northern hemisphere (July-November) along the Milky Way.

The study was led by PhD student, Chloe Lawlor from the Centre for Astronomy at the University of Galway, in collaboration with PhD student Richelle van Capelleveen, Leiden Observatory, Netherlands and postdoctoral researcher Guillaume Bourdarot, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany.

Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters

A Solar System in the making? Two planets spotted forming in disc around young star

ESO
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Astronomers have observed two planets forming in the disc around a young star named WISPIT 2. Having previously detected one planet, the team have now employed European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes to confirm the presence of another. These observations, and the unique structure of the disc around the star, indicate that the WISPIT 2 system could resemble a young Solar System.

Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Thousands of pico-satellites may transform how phones connect to space

Institute of Science Tokyo
Reports and Proceedings

Swarms of pico-satellites could work together as a single large antenna for direct-to-smartphone communications, as reported by researchers from Japan. Instead of relying on a single large satellite with a phased-array antenna, the team showed that pico-satellites orbiting Earth in formation could each carry individual phased-array elements and be synchronized wirelessly. The proof-of-principle experiment demonstrated reliable, high-quality data transmission, paving the way for cheaper, more reliable network coverage worldwide.

Funder: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, VLSI Design and Education Center (VDEC), Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Mentor Graphics, Inc., Keysight Technologies Japan, Ltd

Imaging the Moon’s interior with fiber-optics

ETH Zurich
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Future lunar missions may rely on a fibre-optic cables to assess vital sub-surface structures. Researchers at ETH Zurich are investigating whether lightweight optical fibres – like those used for internet communication on Earth – could be deployed on the Moon to detect seismic activity and reveal its interior structures.

Journal: Earth and Space Science

XRISM solves famous star’s 50-year mystery

European Space Agency
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An invisible companion consuming material from the naked-eye star gamma-Cas has been revealed as the culprit for curious X-rays coming from the stellar system, closing the case on a mystery that has puzzled astronomers for more than fifty years. Unique high-resolution observations made by the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) revealed that the X-rays are linked to the orbital motion of a companion white dwarf star, enabling astronomers to finally solve the mystery.

Journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics

NASA’s EDGE mission taps Boise State as part of next-generation Earth observation effort

Boise State University
Grant and Award Announcement

Boise State’s Nancy Glenn, vice president of research and economic development and professor of geosciences joins Helen Amanda Fricker at UC San Diego who will head the EDGE mission, one of two NASA next-generation satellite missions announced in February.

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