Explorer

Following a successful launch earlier this month, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is headed straight for the Sun. Aiming to make history — and collect invaluable, new data — the Parker Solar Probe intends to fly seven times closer to the Sun than any other mission. Watch a short video on the launch and read more about what scientists are hoping to achieve (article and video in English).

Astronomers from Keele University, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, and others, have discovered the first atmosphere around an Earth-sized planet. The planet, GJ1132b is about 1.4x Earth's diameter and 39 light years away from us. Currently there are over 3000 known planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, but only a handful of which have been confirmed to have atmospheres, and all of which are massive Jupiter-sized planets. In the ongoing quest to find a planet similar to Earth, this