Planetary science
Mercury contraction may be underestimated by up to 30%, study finds
The authors found fewer mapped shortening features in rough terrain and use that pattern to revise estimates of the planet's cooling-driven contraction.
Editorial desk
Science
Solar physics, Earth observation, astronomy and the instruments extending India’s view of the universe.
Solar science
Aditya-L1 study traces small brightenings before major solar flares
Seven 2024 flare cases contained 102 ultraviolet transients before onset, but the observations do not yet establish a flare-forecasting method.
Space observatories
Roman completes first course correction as commissioning moves ahead
NASA's early updates report an August 31 trajectory burn, followed by antenna and sunshade deployments and Coronagraph Instrument activation; Roman has not reached L2 or begun science operations.
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.
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.