Europa’s subsurface ocean has long topped astrobiologists’ wish lists as a place to search for life beyond Earth.

The post Europa’s Ice Shell May Be Tougher Barrier than Planetary Scientists Hoped appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New 3D computer simulations from ETH Zurich show that young rift flanks on Venus stay tall and steep, while older ones flatten out over time.

The post Giant Rift Valleys Hint Venus is Still Tectonically Active appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft show temperatures spike more than 20 degrees Celsius just a few meters under Io’s surface, providing the first look at what’s happening below the crust of the Solar System’s most volcanic world.

The post Juno’s Microwave Vision Peers beneath Surface of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Planetary researchers have found the first evidence that bursts of energetic particles from the Sun could warm the lower atmosphere of Mars during massive dust storms, hinting at an unexpected link between space weather and Martian climate.

The post Space Weather May Warp Martian Weather during Dust Storms, Planetary Scientists Suggest appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

By analyzing nickel isotopes preserved in the 66-million-year-old debris left by the Chicxulub impact, researchers conclude that the asteroid responsible for Earth’s last mass extinction most likely belonged to an exceptionally rare class of primitive meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites of the Ornans type (CO chondrites).

The post Dinosaurs May Have Been Wiped Out by ‘Oddball’ Space Rock appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New research indicates that Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, may continue to lose rotational energy despite the pair’s long-standing tidal lock, offering scientists a rare glimpse into the hidden interiors of distant icy worlds.

The post Pluto’s Moon Charon May Still Be Slowing Its Spin, Study Suggests appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

On July 5, 2026, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft completed the first asteroid encounter of its extended mission, flying past the two-lobed near-Earth asteroid Torifune and returning its close-up visible and thermal images.

The post Hayabusa-2 Snaps Stunning Close-Up Images of Asteroid Torifune during Flyby appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

On July 2, 2026, the Tianwen-2 probe closed to within 20 km (12.4 miles) of the small near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3, one of only seven Earth quasi-satellites identified to date, kicking off a science campaign ahead of an eventual sample-return attempt.

The post China’s Tianwen-2 Spacecraft Reaches Earth’s Quasi-Moon after One Billion-Kilometer Journey appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered the most extensive evidence yet of complex organic molecules on Mars, detecting macromolecular carbon in rocks from the Bright Angel formation in Jezero Crater.

The post Perseverance Finds Complex Organic Matter on Mars appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Zircon crystals and impact-altered minerals show that a massive asteroid slammed into what is now the Pilbara region of Western Australia about 3 billion years ago.

The post Australia’s North Pole Dome Crater is Earth’s Oldest and Only Known Archean Impact Structure appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

The main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, a heavily cratered fragment born from a catastrophic breakup 155 million years ago, appears to wobble through space while preserving clues to the migration of water-rich worlds in the early Solar System, according to a new analysis of images and data from NASA’s Lucy spacecraft.

The post Asteroid Donaldjohanson is Wobbly, Peanut-Shaped Object with Watery Past, Scientists Say appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Using NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar and NSF’s Green Bank Telescope, astronomers from the University of California, Los Angeles, confirmed that the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa scatters radio energy in an unusually strong and complex way not seen on rocky worlds.

The post Radar Observations Reveal New Clues about Europa’s Hidden Interior appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Planetary scientists analyzing a lunar meteorite known as Northwest Africa (NWA) 12593 have uncovered evidence of an asteroid impact that occurred 3.5 billion years ago on the Moon, helping to reconstruct a period of intense bombardment that left lasting marks across the inner Solar System.

The post Lunar Meteorite Preserves Evidence of Colossal Asteroid Strike appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

The giant planet’s bow shock isn’t just deflecting the solar wind, it’s acting as a powerful particle accelerator, firing electrons to relativistic energies of at least 1 MeV, according to a new analysis of data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

The post Jupiter Accelerates Electrons to Near-Light Speed, Offering Clues to Cosmic Ray Origins appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

The Northwest Africa (NWA) 12774, an angrite meteorite discovered in the Sahara Desert, likely in Mauritania, appears to be a fragment of a vanished protoplanet, offering the strongest evidence yet that a large planetary body formed and was later destroyed during the Solar System’s chaotic infancy.

The post Meteorite Found in Africa Preserves Evidence of Long-Lost Massive Protoplanet appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New observations from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft reveal that the Zwan-Wolf effect -- a phenomenon once thought unique to Earth’s magnetosphere, in which charged particles are squeezed like toothpaste coming out of a tube along magnetic structures called flux tubes -- is also reshaping the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere.

The post MAVEN Detects Rare Atmospheric Effect on Mars appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New research led by planetary scientists from Southwest Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology suggests that evidence for vapor erupting from Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be less conclusive than once believed.

The post Do Europa’s Water Plumes Really Exist? New Study Reopens Debate appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

When the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS passed between ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft and NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft in November 2025, scientists seized an once-in-a-lifetime chance: one spacecraft caught the comet’s glowing dayside, the other its dusty night side, simultaneously.

The post Europa Clipper and Juice Team Up to Observe Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

New research shows that surges in solar activity can accelerate the descent of space debris, reshaping how scientists predict satellite lifetimes and collision risks.

The post Space Junk Falls Faster When Sun Heats Up, New Study Finds appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured a new view of the irregular moon Thebe during a May 1 flyby, revealing the battered world from just 5,000 km away.

The post Juno Snaps Rare Close-Up of Jupiter’s Shadowy Moon Thebe appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.