Planetary science
Chandrayaan-3’s SHAPE shows how Earth can stand in for an exoplanet
A new preprint reports the instrument’s in-orbit performance and whole-Earth spectra, while leaving the calibrated science analysis for later papers.
Editorial desk
Science
Solar physics, Earth observation, astronomy and the instruments extending India’s view of the universe.
Earth science
NASA-backed 2022–2025 study attributes most Addis Ababa black carbon to fossil fuels
Ten monitors tracked fine particles across Ethiopia’s capital, while black-carbon instruments at two sites resolved traffic, wet-season and holiday pollution patterns.
Science
AT2024wpp points to a black hole shredding a massive star—not a confirmed survivor
Whippet’s fast rise, extreme energy and X-ray-driven wind favour black-hole accretion; its late hydrogen and helium lines leave several possible structures, not proof that the disrupted star survived.
Solar science
ISS, Proba-3 and weather satellites reveal different sides of August’s eclipse
NASA’s WB-57 followed the corona, an astronaut saw 18% coverage, Proba-3 caught a double eclipse, and MTG-I1 and GOES-19 tracked the Moon’s shadow across Earth.
Earth science
Elephant Butte Reservoir falls to 1.4% as Landsat maps the retreat
A July 27 image captured New Mexico’s largest reservoir near a late-July trough; Reclamation records put its storage at the lowest level since 1971.
Planetary science
Broad Europa radar survey points to a leading-trailing hemisphere difference
The August 18 preprint combines 33 observations from 2011–2024, supporting coherent backscatter while leaving the source of the hemispheric pattern unsettled.
Science
GJ 523b packs 23.5 Earth masses into a proposed ‘mega-Earth’ class
A submitted TESS–NEID analysis places the young, dense planet between familiar size and composition categories; its gas-poor interior and likely polar orbit remain inferences awaiting further observations.
Science
Hubble cluster ages reconstruct the Milky Way’s ancient LKH merger
A separate age–metallicity track among inner globular clusters points to a merger before Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus, while LKH is the authors’ name for a modelled progenitor that unites three earlier clues.
Earth science
VIIRS images trace Lala from hurricane to tropical storm near Hawai‘i
NASA published the views on August 18, but Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 observed the storm on August 15 and 16; ground reports document the rain, wind and transport damage.
Earth science
INSPYRE aircraft sample Widemouth 2 smoke from inside and above
An NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V crossed the resulting plume at 12 kilometres on August 3; NASA’s ER-2 later logged ten fire overpasses while the campaign was still gathering data.
Planetary science
JWST clay signatures point to shattered interiors around Neptune
Larissa, Galatea and the rings carry a 2.72-micrometre feature associated with magnesium-rich phyllosilicates, but missing water ice and a shredded dwarf-planet alternative keep their origin unsettled.
Earth observation
Landsat traces a 17-square-kilometre iceberg into Denmark Strait
NASA followed the berg more than 1,000 kilometres from northeast Greenland, but satellite clues do not settle whether it came from Zachariæ Isstrøm or a remnant ice shelf.