As launch approaches for ESA's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, CHEOPS, scientists are rounding off the observing plans for the mission, with the science themes of the core programme announced recently and proposals for guest observations for the first year of CHEOPS operations under evaluation.

Nature, Published online: 18 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02222-2

Construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope was supposed to start on 15 July.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the pace of lunar exploration has accelerated, with more than a dozen probes having undertaken scientific exploration of the Moon. Prominent among these have been the robotic "Chang’E" (CE) missions of the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). We discuss technological and scientific goals and achievements for the four completed, and four planned, CE missions, and longer-term goals and plans of the CLEP beyond the CE missions. The exploration plan is flexible and iterative, with an emphasis on international cooperation.

The analysis of lunar samples returned to Earth by the Apollo and Luna missions changed our view of the processes involved in planet formation. The data obtained on lunar samples brought to light the importance during planet growth of highly energetic collisions that lead to global-scale melting. This violent birth determines the initial structure and long-term evolution of planets. Once past its formative era, the lunar surface has served as a recorder of more than 4 billion years of interaction with the space environment. The chronologic record of lunar cratering determined from the returned samples underpins age estimates for planetary surfaces throughout the inner Solar System and provides evidence of the dynamic nature of the Solar System during the planet-forming era.

Hergarten et al. interpret our results in terms of erosion and uncertain calibration, rather than requiring an increase in impact flux. Geologic constraints indicate low long-term erosion rates on stable cratons where most craters with diameters of ≥20 kilometers occur. We statistically test their proposed recalibration of the lunar crater ages and find that it is disfavored relative to our original calibration.

The first direct measurement of the bar-shaped collection of stars at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy has been made by combining data from ESA’s Gaia mission with complementary observations from ground- and space-based telescopes.

Using observations from the international Cassini spacecraft, scientists have explored the ring-like mounds that wrap around some of the pools found at the poles of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The study reveals more about how these features formed.

Nature, Published online: 16 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02198-z

Hotly anticipated technique fails to resolve disagreement over how fast cosmos is expanding — for now.

One of the most important Russian space science missions in the post-Soviet era lifts off from Baikonur.

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed an unexpected thin disc of material encircling a supermassive black hole at the heart of the spiral galaxy NGC 3147, located 130 million light-years away.

Nature, Published online: 11 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02125-2

Evidence points to a supernova as the source of a dazzling object that telescopes spotted in 2018.

Nature, Published online: 11 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02155-w

The Thirty Meter Telescope project has faced years of legal challenges over planned Mauna Kea site.

Nature, Published online: 10 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02138-x

Ploonets could explain some of the mysteries already observed in exoplanet systems, the Apollo Moon landing was nearly a joint US–Soviet mission and legal action to fight climate change is on the rise.

Nature, Published online: 10 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02066-w

Simulations demonstrate that the Moon’s ability to retain material from striking impactors is lower than was previously assumed. This finding helps to explain the scarcity of precious metals in the Moon relative to Earth.

Nature, Published online: 10 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02136-z

Hayabusa2 touched down on Ryugu to collect material from beneath the surface.

Nature, Published online: 10 July 2019; doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1359-0

Lunar impact simulations find an impactor-retention ratio three times lower than previously thought and indicate that highly siderophile element retention began 4.35 billion years ago, resolving accretion mass discrepancies between Earth and the Moon.

Nature, Published online: 03 July 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02064-y

The switch to double-blind peer review will affect roughly 650 scientists working on projects worth an estimated US$55 million.

Imagine slow-motion fireworks that started exploding 170 years ago and are still continuing. This type of firework is not launched into Earth's atmosphere, but rather into space by a doomed super-massive star, called Eta Carinae, the largest member of a double-star system.

News Article Type: Homepage ArticlesPublished: Wednesday, July 3, 2019 - 10:13

Hubble offers a special view of the double star system Eta Carinae's expanding gases glowing in red, white, and blue. This is the highest resolution image of Eta Carinae taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.