Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    A rain of electrons causes Mercury’s X-ray auroras

    The first direct measurement of electrons raining down on Mercury suggests this particle precipitation causes most auroras in the solar system.

    By
  2. Astronomy

    Ryugu asteroid samples are sprinkled with stardust older than the solar system

    Slivers of the asteroid appear to be from the fringes of the solar system and could reveal bits of the history of the sun and its planets.

    By
  3. Astronomy

    ‘Under Alien Skies’ imagines what the sky looks like on other planets

    Astronomer Philip Plait’s new book takes readers on a thrilling ride to Mars, Pluto and even a black hole.

    By
  4. Astronomy

    Jupiter-sized planets are very rare around the least massive stars

    A six-year search of 200 nearby low-mass red dwarf stars found no Jupiter-like planets, boosting the standard theory for how such planets form.

    By
  5. Space

    A cyclone has been spotted swirling over Uranus’ north pole for the first time

    Voyager 2 hinted at a cyclone at Uranus’ south pole. Now Earth-based observations give the first direct evidence of a storm at the ice giant’s north pole.

    By
  6. Planetary Science

    JWST captured Enceladus’ plume spraying water nearly 10,000 kilometers into space

    NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals the rate at which Saturn’s moon Enceladus spews water and where that water ends up.

    By
  7. Planetary Science

    A quake on Mars showed its crust is thicker than Earth’s

    Seismic data from NASA’s Insight lander reveal the crust is roughly 50 kilometers thick, with the northern crust being thinner than the south’s.

    By
  8. Planetary Science

    Jupiter’s lightning bolts contort the same way as Earth’s

    Jovian lightning extends in jagged steps as it does on Earth, data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggest. The finding might aid the search for life.

    By
  9. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s rings may be no more than 400 million years old

    An analysis of data from NASA’s defunct Cassini probe suggests Saturn's rings materialized more than 100 million years after trilobites appeared on Earth.

    By
  10. Planetary Science

    Why you shouldn’t use magnets when looking for meteorites

    A popular tool for identifying meteorites can overwrite records of magnetic fields stored within the space rocks.

    By
  11. Astronomy

    The James Webb telescope revealed surprise asteroids in the Fomalhaut star system

    New images of Fomalhaut confirm that an alleged planet is probably just dust while also revealing a new asteroid belt and a “Great Dust Cloud.”

    By
  12. Space

    Salty water may have flowed near Mars’ equator as recently as 400,000 years ago

    Crusts and cracks on Martian sand dunes are a sign salty water flowed near the equator thousands, not billions, of years ago — and may still exist.

    By