Astronomy

Where did the moon come from? The Giant Impact Theory germinated in the mind of a UA graduate student as he mapped the surface of the moon and is still cited today as scientists learn more about our celestial neighbor.

For decades, UA scientists have contributed to the research that has shaped our understanding of our solar system and the universe – beginning with the Apollo 11 mission 50 years ago.

In the most detailed analysis of how sands move around on Mars, a team of planetary scientists led by the UA found that processes not involved in controlling sand movement on Earth play major roles on Mars.

While searching for the origins of Titan’s methane and the organics that coat its surface, UA researchers made the unexpected discovery of a large ice feature on Saturn's largest moon.

A "deep learning" approach to detecting storms on Saturn show the vast regions affected by storms and that dark storm clouds contain material swept up from the lower atmosphere by strong vertical winds.

A dust grain forged in a stellar explosion predating our solar system reveals new insights about how stars end their lives and provide the building blocks of new stars and planets.

Astrophotographer Adam Block talks about the galaxy known as Messier 87, home of the supermassive black hole photographed by the Event Horizon Telescope.

Two new studies by UA space scientists may bring into question the habitability of TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets, three of which are in the habitable zone of space.

With the help of two radio telescopes coordinated by the UA, astronomers in the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration have taken the first direct image of a black hole, a prediction of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's first close-up observations of asteroid Bennu reveal new details that pose a challenge to the mission's objective of returning a sample to Earth.