compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

Ion engines could take us to the solar gravitational lens in less than 13 years, suggests paper Sending an object to another star is still the stuff of science fiction. But some concrete missions could get us at least part way there. These “interstellar precursor missions” include a trip to the solar gravitational lens point at 550 AU from the sun—farther than any artificial object…more

Saturn’s moon Titan has insulating methane-rich crust up to six miles thick Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is the only place other than Earth known to have an atmosphere and liquids in the form of rivers, lakes and seas on its surface. Because of its extremely cold temperature, the liquids on Titan are made of hydrocarbons…more

Discovery of carbon-storing molecules in a distant interstellar cloud may shed light on how our own solar system formed A team led by researchers at MIT has discovered that a distant interstellar cloud contains an abundance of pyrene, a type of large, carbon-containing molecule known as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)…more

New Team to Assess NASA’s Mars Sample Return Architecture Proposals
NASA announced Wednesday a new strategy review team will assess potential architecture adjustments for the agency’s Mars Sample Return Program, which aims to bring back scientifically selected samples from Mars, and is a key step in NASA’s quest to better understand our solar system and help answer whether we are alone in the universe…more

This Distant Planet May Host a Moon That’s Spewing a Volcanic Cloud
Astronomers have identified thousands of planets orbiting distant stars using sophisticated observatories. But there’s something they have yet to spot with any certainty: moons around those worlds. Now a recent discovery around a Saturn-size planet 635 light-years from Earth offers one of the best potential clues…more

NASA Launches Europa Clipper to Explore an Ocean Moon’s Habitability Europa Clipper, the biggest interplanetary spacecraft that NASA has ever built, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Monday afternoon. The mission will tackle one of biology’s core questions: Can life exist anywhere else in our solar system?…more

Nasa spacecraft receives laser signal from 290 million miles away Nasa has successfully sent a laser signal about 290 million miles, smashing previous records and potentially transforming our exploration of the solar system. The milestone was reached by Nasa’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which is exploring whether it is possible to use lasers…more

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Moves Like the Solar System’s Biggest Kickball The Great Red Spot of Jupiter is one of the solar system’s most astonishing marvels. An elliptical storm with inky swirls of burnt orange and dulled copper, it is longer thanNasa spacecraft receives laser signal from 290 million miles away the Earth is wide, and its winds screech through the tops of the planet’s clouds at 400 miles per hour…more

Unexplained Enigmas in the Orion Nebula May Be Victims of Stellar Bullying Some 1,350 light-years from Earth, astronomers detected strange pairs of unexplained objects orbiting in the Orion Nebula. Since then, about 12 months ago, other scientists have proposed a new potential explanation for these apparitions, while other researchers wonder whether they exist at all…more

Solar Storm Buffets Earth and Is Likely to Generate Light Show An eruption of particles from the sun collided with Earth on Thursday morning. The Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reported that the solar particles, which were ejected on Tuesday, October 8 evening, arrived at 11:15 a.m….more

How to See the ‘Once-in-a-Lifetime’ Comet Flaring in Our Night Skies Look up, stargazers: A comet discovered last year is getting brighter as it makes its closest pass by Earth later this week, and this could be humanity’s last chance to see the comet before it disappears into the cosmic depths…more