Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Marsquakes hint that the planet might be volcanically active after all

    Seismic data recorded by NASA’s InSight lander suggest molten rock moves tens of kilometers below the planet’s fractured Cerberus Fossae region.

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  2. Microbes

    Ancient bacteria could persist beneath Mars’ surface

    Radiation-tolerant microbes might be able to survive beneath Mars’ surface for hundreds of millions of years, a new study suggests.

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  3. Planetary Science

    NASA’s DART mission successfully shoved an asteroid

    Data obtained since the spacecraft intentionally crashed into an asteroid show that the impact altered the space rock’s orbit even more than intended.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Mars’ buried ‘lake’ might just be layers of ice and rock

    Evidence grows that possible detections of liquid water buried near Mars’ south pole might not hold water.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Robin Wordsworth re-creates the atmosphere of ancient Mars

    Robin Wordsworth studies the climates of Mars and other alien worlds to find out whether they could support life.

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  6. Planetary Science

    NASA’s DART spacecraft just smashed into an asteroid — on purpose

    If the first-ever attempt to knock a space rock off course works, it could provide a blueprint to protect Earth from a killer asteroid.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Here is the first direct look at Neptune’s rings in more than 30 years

    In 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft took the first pics of Neptune’s rings. Now, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is providing a more detailed look.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s rings and tilt might have come from one missing moon

    The hypothetical moon, dubbed Chrysalis, could have helped tip the planet over before getting shredded to form the rings, researchers suggest.

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  9. Planetary Science

    Passing through the Milky Way’s arms may have helped form Earth’s solid ground

    Barrages of comets stirred up by the early solar system’s journey around the center of the galaxy could explain the timing of ancient rock formation.

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  10. Astronomy

    The James Webb telescope spotted CO2 in an exoplanet’s atmosphere

    The first definitive detection of the gas on a world in another solar system paves the way for detections in planets that are more Earthlike.

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  11. Earth

    Not one, but two asteroids might have slain the dinosaurs

    A craterlike structure found off West Africa’s coast might have been formed by an asteroid impact around the same time the dinosaurs went extinct.

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  12. Planetary Science

    Oort cloud comets may spin themselves to death

    How icy objects from the solar system’s fringe break up as they near the sun is a long-standing mystery. One astronomer now thinks he has an answer.

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