New simulations suggest Jupiter’s powerful magnetism carved a gap in its early disk, helping capture and preserve major moons like Io and Ganymede, while Saturn’s weaker field left its system sparsely populated.

The post Jupiter’s Strong Magnetic Field May Explain Why It Has So Many Large Moons appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A new nanoscale analysis of the Bennu sample OREX-800066-3 returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission shows that organic compounds and minerals cluster into distinct regions, suggesting water once altered the asteroid in uneven, localized ways.

The post Asteroid Bennu’s Minerals and Organic Matter Occur in Distinct Chemical Domains: Study appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New computational simulations suggest ice-giant planets like Uranus and Neptune harbor a quasi-one-dimensional superionic state of carbon hydride that could reshape how scientists understand planetary interiors.

The post New Form of Matter May Lurk Deep Inside Uranus and Neptune appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A new analysis of data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe shows that protons and heavy ions react differently to solar magnetic reconnection events, suggesting a more intricate mechanism behind space weather.

The post Closer Look at the Sun Reveals More Chaotic Magnetic Heart appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Archival data from ESA’s Cassini mission reveal that Saturn’s protective magnetic bubble is lopsided, shaped not just by the solar wind but by its rapid spin and the material streaming from its moons.

The post Saturn’s Magnetic Shield is Skewed, Offering Clues to Alien Worlds appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New findings from Neretva Vallis, an ancient river channel that once transported water into Jezero crater on Mars, reveal unusually high nickel levels in 3-billion-year-old sediments, echoing mineral patterns on Earth sometimes linked to microbial processes.

The post Nickel-Rich Rocks Discovered by Perseverance Hint at Complex Chemistry on Early Mars appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A new analysis of isotopic signatures across planets and meteorite parent bodies suggests our home world formed entirely from inner solar system material, challenging long-standing theories of distant origins.

The post Earth’s Building Blocks Came from Close to Home, Planetary Scientists Say appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

On its way to Jupiter, ESA’s Juice spacecraft briefly turned its gaze toward a rare interstellar visitor, 3I/ATLAS, capturing valuable data from an object born beyond our Solar System.

The post How Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Met Unlikely Observer appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Samples returned by JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 mission from the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu contain all five canonical nucleobases -- purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (cytosine, thymine and uracil) -- pointing to a cosmic origin for some of life’s fundamental chemistry.

The post DNA’s Building Blocks May Have Arrived from Space, Asteroid Ryugu Samples Suggest appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New measurements show that the DART impact in 2022 not only shortened the orbit of the moonlet Dimorphos around its parent asteroid, Didymos, but also subtly shifted the entire binary system’s path around the Sun.

The post NASA’s Planetary Defense Test Changed Binary Asteroid’s Orbit around the Sun appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New research shows that Deinococcus radiodurans has outstanding ability to survive the extreme transient pressures associated with impact-induced ejection from Mars.

The post Extremophile Bacteria May Hitch Rides on Asteroid Fragments appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Planetary scientsts from the United States, Europe and China have used the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft to map detailed patch structures in Ganymede’s aurorae that parallel those seen on Earth.

The post Ganymede’s Auroral Patches Reveal Shared Physics with Earth’s Aurorae appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

As human space exploration pushes farther from Earth, the need for sustainable ways to obtain local resources is becoming increasingly urgent, as routine resupply missions grow impractical.

The post Fungi on International Space Station Show Surprising Metal Extraction Skills appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Planetary scientists have identified thousands of small mare ridges (SMRs) across the Moon’s maria, pointing to active tectonic forces that may shape the next era of space exploration.

The post Moon is More Geologically Active than Previously Thought appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

In a paper to be published in the Planetary Science Journal, scientists from SETI Institute, Southwest Research Institute, Caltech and the Observatoire de Paris argue that Saturn’s largest moon is not a primordial world, but the result of a dramatic merger between two ancient moons.

The post Saturn’s Ring System, Hyperion and Titan May Have Originated in Collision of Two Proto-Moons appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New orbital data reveal that the most recently active volcanic systems on Mars weren’t simple one-off blasts into space.

The post New Research Uncovers Hidden Complexity beneath Martian Surface appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A new analysis of data from four instruments aboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has demonstrated the crucial role that Saturn’s small icy moon Enceladus plays in circulating energy and momentum around the parent planet’s space environment.

The post Enceladus Plays Bigger Role in Shaping Saturn’s Space Environment than Previously Thought appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Using archival radar data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, planetary researchers have identified a vast underground conduit beneath the surface in the Venusian region of Nyx Mons.

The post Hidden Caves on Venus? New Analysis Suggests Massive Lava Tube beneath Venusian Surface appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Known non-biological sources, from meteorites to surface chemistry, fall short of accounting for organic compounds detected by NASA’s Curiosity rover, according to a new study published in the journal Astrobiology.

The post Mars Organics Can’t Be Fully Explained by Geological Processes Alone, NASA Study Says appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Using high-precision radio-occultation measurements from NASA’s Juno mission and incorporating the effects of zonal winds, planetary scientists derived Jupiter’s shape with an order-of-magnitude reduction in uncertainty, finding polar, equatorial and mean radii smaller than previous estimates made with NASA’s Pioneer and Voyager missions.

The post Jupiter is Smaller and More ‘Squashed’ than Previously Believed, New Juno Data Reveal appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.