JWST Just Mapped a Planet's Surface

🌋 Super-Earth's basalt surface revealed

🧊 Atmosphere detected beyond Pluto

🪐 Planetary odd couple origins found

🌙 Blue Origin lander aces NASA test

💥 Optically dark gamma-ray burst studied

Harvard-Smithsonian's Sebastian Zieba and Max Planck Institute's Laura Kreidberg led analysis of rocky exoplanet LHS 3844 b, a super-Earth 30% larger than our planet orbiting a red dwarf star.

JWST's (James Webb Space Telescope) MIRI instrument measured infrared emission from 5 to 12 micrometers, revealing a dark basalt-like surface with dayside temperatures reaching 1000 Kelvin on this tidally locked world.

The team concluded LHS 3844 b lacks Earth-like plate tectonics and water, according to Zieba, suggesting the surface resembles space-weathered Mercury rather than geologically active volcanic terrain.

Japan's National Astronomical Observatory researcher Ko Arimatsu led a team studying plutino (612533) 2002 XV93, a 500-kilometer-wide icy body orbiting beyond Pluto in the distant Kuiper Belt.

Three Japanese telescopes observed the object during a 2024 stellar occultation at 5.5 billion kilometers distance, detecting an atmosphere 50 to 100 times thinner than Pluto's tenuous envelope.

Southwest Research Institute's Alan Stern called the finding "genuinely surprising," noting it challenges conventional views that atmospheres require large planetary bodies, pending independent verification by JWST observations.

MIT's Saugata Barat led international astronomers studying TOI-1130, a rare system 190 light-years away where a mini-Neptune orbits inside a hot Jupiter's path, defying typical planetary architecture.

JWST detected water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide in the mini-Neptune's atmosphere, with the inner planet completing orbits every four days while its Jupiter-sized companion takes eight days.

According to Barat, these heavy molecules confirm both planets formed beyond the star's frost line and migrated inward together, representing the first evidence of this formation channel.

Blue Origin engineers completed thermal vacuum testing of their MK1 Endurance lunar lander at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Johnson Space Center under a reimbursable Space Act Agreement.

Testing in Chamber A thermal vacuum facility simulated space conditions to verify structural integrity, with the uncrewed lander carrying two CLPS payloads including high-resolution stereo cameras for plume studies.

The MK1 mission will demonstrate precision landing and cryogenic propulsion at the lunar South Pole, advancing technology maturation for Blue Moon MK2 crewed systems supporting future Artemis astronauts.

Astrophysicists submitted new research to arXiv examining a dark gamma-ray burst, a class of high-energy transient events where optical afterglow emission remains suppressed despite powerful initial gamma-ray detection.

Dark GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) typically exhibit optical extinction exceeding visible wavelength predictions, suggesting dense circumstellar material or dust-obscured host galaxies absorbing afterglow photons along observer sight lines.

According to researchers, unusual jet behavior in dark bursts may indicate structured outflows or viewing angle effects, offering insights into massive star collapse environments and relativistic jet physics.