Lewis Dartnell

Astrobiologist

Dr. Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiologist and science author based at the University of Westminster.

Recent articles by Lewis Dartnell

Could humans be too heavy to land on Mars? Credit: NASA

Could humans be too heavy to land on Mars?

The Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/J. Cowart, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The curious cloud above Mars’s Arsia Mons volcano

The K2-290 system, with its tilted primary star, K2-290A, and two transiting planets. Credit: Sakkmesterke / iStock / Getty Images

The planets that orbit a backward-spinning star

Artist's impression of an asteroid belt. Credit: Maciej Frolow / Getty Images

Asteroid Belt: what is it and how did it form?

Lights over the city of Granada, Spain. Has lockdown helped reduce light pollution in the city? Credit: Marco Ritzki / Getty Images

Has lockdown affected light pollution?

Artist's impression of the view from a Kuiper Belt Object. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

How astronomers weighed the Kuiper Belt

An artist's impression of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter releasing probes into Venus's atmosphere. Credit: NASA/NSSDCA

Did the Pioneer mission discover phosphine in the clouds of Venus?

What happens when a planet orbits two stars at once? Credit: Rastan/istock/getty images

What happens when exoplanets orbit two stars at once?

An artist's illustration of a Martian dust storm. Credit: NASA

Winds on Mars: understanding the Red Planet’s atmosphere

Imperfect timing: transits can point to potential moons like Kepler-1625b-i . Credit: NASA/ESA/L. Hustak

Exomoons: the next step in exoplanet science

Moon Titan appears in front of Saturn in an image captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

How did Saturn’s moon Titan form?

The Apollo 11 landing site. Credit: NASA

How scientists estimate the ages of planetary surfaces

After a colossal impact, was debris from Mercury blown away by the solar wind? Credit: Getty Images

Was Mercury stripped away by a colossal impact and the solar wind?

Why do M-class red dwarfs appear to disperse their protoplanetary discs more slowly than other stars? Credit: ESO

Peter Pan discs: the planetary systems that never grow up

NASA's NEXT-C, a next-generation solar electric propulsion system, is scheduled for in-space testing in 2021. Credit: NASA/Rami Daud/Alcyon Technical Services

Electric propulsion: the future of spaceflight?