Planetary Science

Astronomy

In a first, astronomers spotted a space rock turning into a comet

Scientists have caught a space rock in the act of shifting from a Kuiper Belt object to a comet. That process won’t be complete until 2063.

Astronomy

Hubble watched a lunar eclipse to see Earth from an alien’s perspective

Hubble observed sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere during a lunar eclipse to see what a habitable exoplanet’s atmosphere might look like.

Planetary Science

Jupiter’s moons could keep each other warm by raising tidal waves

Along with gravity from the enormous planet, tidal forces between Jupiter’s moons could generate a surprising amount of heat.

Space

‘Exotic’ lightning crackles across Jupiter’s cloud tops

Newly spotted lightning, which could form thanks to ammonia antifreeze, is weaker but more frequent than any flashes seen on Jupiter before.

Planetary Science

The Perseverance rover caps off a month of Mars launches

With the launch of NASA’s Perseverance rover, the rush to the Red Planet is under way.

Space

To rehearse Perseverance’s mission, scientists pretended to be a Mars rover

Seven Mars scientists pretended to be the Mars Perseverance rover on a training exercise in the Nevada desert.

Planetary Science

NASA’s Perseverance rover will seek signs of past life on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover will collect rocks and search for past life on Mars using lasers and zoomable cameras among other instruments.

Space

Two new books explore Mars — and what it means to be human

‘Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars’ and ‘The Sirens of Mars’ are surprisingly apt reads during the pandemic.

Planetary Science

How upcoming missions to Mars will help predict its wild dust storms

Predicting the weather on Mars is essential for landing and keeping rovers — or astronauts — safe on the surface. The next Mars missions will give forecasts a boost.

Planetary Science

Some exoplanets may be covered in weird water that’s between liquid and gas

“Supercritical” water, a corrosive substance used to break down toxic waste on Earth, coats some small worlds around other stars, simulations suggest.

Space

A newfound exoplanet may be the exposed core of a gas giant

A planet about 734 light-years away could be a former gas giant that lost its atmosphere or a failed giant that never finished growing.

Planetary Science

An asteroid’s moon got a name so NASA can bump it off its course

A tiny moon orbiting an asteroid finally got a name because NASA plans to crash a spacecraft into it.