Planetary Science

More Stories in Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Uranus may have looked weird when NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by

    A solar wind event days before the NASA probe flyby in 1986 may have compressed the planet’s magnetosphere, making it look odder than it usually is.

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  2. Planetary Science

    50 years ago, scientists found a new moon orbiting Jupiter

    In 1974, astronomers discovered Jupiter’s 13th moon. They now know of at least 95 moons and have launched missions to study some up close.

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  3. Planetary Science

    The cataclysmic origins of most of Earth’s meteorites have been found

    Just a few smashups in the asteroid belt may account for 70 percent of Earth’s meteorites, limiting what’s known about our solar system’s history.

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  4. Planetary Science

    NASA’s Europa mission is a homecoming for one planetary astronomer

    Over her long career, Bonnie Buratti has seen the search for life in the solar system go from a joke to a flagship mission.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s first Trojan asteroid has finally been discovered

    Saturn joins the sun’s other giant planets that have Trojans, space rocks that orbit along the same path.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Europa Clipper has launched to solve an alien mystery

    Launched October 14, the spacecraft will repeatedly buzz Europa in search of water, energy and organic compounds.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Scientists find a long-sought electric field in Earth’s atmosphere

    The Earth’s ambipolar electric field is weak but strong enough to control the shape and evolution of the upper atmosphere.

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  8. Planetary Science

    The Webb telescope’s peek into a stellar nursery finds baby planets too

    Images by the James Webb telescope of six Jupiter-sized worlds, one of which may have a moon-forming disk, reveal clues into how planets and stars form.

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  9. Space

    Moonquakes are much more common than thought, Apollo data suggest

    The discovery of 22,000 previously unseen moonquakes, plus a new idea of what causes them, could help us better prepare for trips there.

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