planetary science

New research introduces significant updates to the lunar stratigraphic time scale, incorporating a holistic view of the Moon’s evolution post-Apollo era. Dividing the Moon’s history into three Eons based on the interplay of internal and external processes, the researchers highlight key evolutionary phases from the formation of the magma ocean to the current dominance of impact events. The identification of the “Das Formation” and the refinement of the Pre-Nectarian Period into the Magma-oceanian and Aitkenian Periods…

Astronomers found a new moon orbiting Uranus, as well as two around Neptune. The tiny satellites appeared as faint specks in the outer reaches of the solar system following hours of ground-based observations.Dave Bautista Opens Up About His Relationship With Denis VilleneuveUsing observatories in Chile and Hawaii, Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, first spotted the Uranian moon on November 4, 2023 and the two previously unknown Neptunian moons in September 2021. “The three newly…

While journeying through the far reaches of the solar system, the New Horizons probe picked up a dusty trail of icy fragments that may indicate that the Kuiper Belt—home to former planet Pluto and countless other objects—is way bigger than we thought.What Is Planet Nine and Why Can’t We Find It?New observations from the NASA mission suggest that the massive donut-shaped outer zone of the solar system, also known as the Kuiper Belt, could extend billions of miles farther than current estimates. There even might be a…

Utilizing SOFIA data, researchers have identified water molecules on asteroid surfaces, marking a significant step in understanding water’s distribution and its role in the solar system’s formation and potential for supporting life. Future studies with the James Webb Space Telescope aim to expand this knowledge by examining more celestial bodies. Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas/Southwest Research InstituteThe FORCAST instrument on SOFIA discovered water on asteroids that were previously considered dry.Scientists from the…

An odd little moon that orbits closely to Saturn just revealed its biggest mystery: a hidden ocean that lies beneath its heavily cratered surface. 'More People Need to Know About This History': A Black Astronaut Speaks About Race and SpaceMimas is less than 123 miles (198 kilometers) wide, too small to be perfectly round, and its icy shell is covered with deep scarring from objects slamming into it. Its most prominent impact crater, Herschel, stretches across a third of its face, giving it the nickname Death Star in…

A previously unknown satellite may be shaping the rings of Chariklo, a petite body that orbits the Sun between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, according to a team of astronomers that recently simulated the rings’ dynamics.Alex Winter on Innovative Horror Movies Chariklo is about 160 miles (257.5 kilometers) across and is one of the Centaurs, a group of icy bodies between Jupiter and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Chariklo is the largest of these small bodies, making it similar to a large boulder the size of a small…

Do not scratch your eyes: the Moon is slowly shrinking, causing quakes on its surface that complicate NASA’s plans for landing Artemis 3, the first Artemis mission that will make a crewed landing on the Moon, and more ambitious missions geared towards maintaining a prolonged human lunar presence. China's Plan to Land Astronauts on the MoonYes, there are plenty of tremors on other bodies in our solar system. On the Moon, they’re moonquakes. On Mars, they’re marsquakes, over 1,300 of which were detected by NASA’s InSight…

January 25, 20244min readNASA’s enterprising Mars helicopter and its remarkable 72 flights offered a new vision of planetary explorationBy Meghan BartelsPerseverance Checks Out Ingenuity on Aug. 2, 2023. After nearly three years soaring through the red skies of Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is permanently grounded.The agency launched the little four-pound chopper in July 2020, with Ingenuity hitchhiking to Mars in the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover. The tissue box-size craft made its first-ever flight in April…

There are jets in Jupiter’s magnetosheath, according to Voyager 2 mission data from 1979. The 45-year-old information is now revealing the dynamics of the plasma stream.What Is Planet Nine and Why Can’t We Find It?You may remember Voyager 2. It launched in August 1977 and is now 12.66 billion miles from Earth, hurtling out into interstellar space. It is the second-most-distant object humans have sent into space, after Voyager 1, which is over 15 billion miles away.In 1979, Voyager 2 made a flyby of Jupiter, passing…

The Webb Space Telescope has spotted something weird: a brown dwarf with what appear to be aurorae, what we Earthlings sometimes call the Northern Lights. What makes the observation particularly surprising is that the brown dwarf doesn’t have a nearby star that could cause such an aurora.Webb Telescope Images the Pillars of CreationAurorae on Earth happen when particles from the Sun interact with gasses in our planet’s atmosphere, along the lines of Earth’s magnetic field. Other planets in our solar system sport aurorae;…