Space Exploration News

‘Magic Islands’ on Titan’s Hydrocarbon Lakes Are Floating Chunks of Porous Organic Solids

Summary of the fate of simple and complex organics on Titan’s surface. Image credit: Yu et al., doi: 10.1029/2023GL106156.
Jan 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, has a unique atmosphere that transforms simple gases like methane and nitrogen into more complex organic compounds. In a new study, planetary researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of California Santa Cruz and Johns Hopkins University explored what happens to these organic compounds when they reach Titan’s surface. They found that most molecules, including all nitriles, triple-bonded...

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This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on June 26, 2018, from a distance of 13.7 miles (22 km). Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / Aizu University / AIST.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Asteroids Predate Our Solar System, New Study Shows

Dec 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomical observations show that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant and widespread in the interstellar medium. PAH molecules consist...

Enceladus’ tiger stripes are known to be spewing ice from the moon’s icy interior into space, creating a cloud of fine ice particles over the moon’s south pole and creating Saturn’s mysterious E-ring. Evidence for this has come from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Pictured here, a high resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby. Tiger stripes are visible in false-color blue. Image credit: NASA / ESA / JPL / SSI / Cassini Imaging Team.

Enceladus’ Surface May Contain Relatively High Abundances of Pristine Organic Material

Dec 21, 2023 by News Staff

Enceladus, the sixth-biggest moon of Saturn, presents a remarkable opportunity in our Solar System for searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life,...

A computer screen shows Taters the cat in a still from the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space, as well as the incoming data stream delivering the frames from the video. Image credit: NASA.

NASA Streams Cat Video from Deep Space via Laser

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

A 15-second ultra-high-definition video, featuring a cat named Taters, was streamed via laser from a record-setting 31 million km (19 million miles, or...

Illustration of plume activity on Enceladus. Image credit: Peter et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-023-02160-0.

Planetary Researchers Detect Hydrogen Cyanide in Plume of Enceladus

Dec 17, 2023 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Cassini mission, planetary scientists have detected several compounds of strong importance to the habitability of Saturn’s icy...

Astronaut David R. Scott, commander, gives a military salute while standing beside the deployed United States flag during the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. The flag was deployed toward the end of EVA-2. The Lunar Module, ‘Falcon,’ is partially visible on the right. Hadley Delta in the background rises approximately 4,000 m (about 13,124 feet) above the plain. The base of the mountain is approximately 5 km (about three statue miles) away. This photograph was taken by astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot. While astronauts Scott and Irwin descended in the Lunar Module to explore the Moon, astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot, remained in lunar orbit in the Command and Service Modules. Image credit: NASA / JSC.

Lunar Anthropocene: Are We in New Epoch of Moon’s History?

Dec 11, 2023 by Natali Anderson

In a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Kansas Geological Survey researcher Justin Holcomb and his colleagues argue the new epoch may have...

Psyche’s first images make up this mosaic showing a starfield in the constellation of Pisces. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU.

NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft Beams Back Its First Images

Dec 6, 2023 by News Staff

Already 26 million km (16 million miles) from Earth, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will arrive at its target asteroid Psyche in 2029. The Psyche team wanted...

Molecular hydrogen points to hydrothermal activity in an ocean beneath the icy surface of Enceladus. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ice Plumes of Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus May Hold Amino Acids, Study Suggests

Dec 5, 2023 by News Staff

Enceladus is a prime target in the search for life in the Solar System, identified by NASA as the second-highest priority site for a flagship mission in...

This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on August 30, 2006, shows the dwarf planet Eris (center) and its moon Dysnomia. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Brown, California Institute of Technology.

New Research Sheds Light on Internal Structure of Dwarf Planet Eris

Dec 4, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Eris is tidally locked to its small moon Dysnomia. Recently obtained bounds on the mass of Dysnomia demonstrate that Eris...

Equipped with a specialized event-based camera, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen managed to capture this picture of a red sprite in October 2023. Image credit: ESA / DTU / A. Mogensen.

ESA Astronaut Captures Stunning Images of Rare Thunder Phenomenon

Dec 1, 2023 by News Staff

As part of the Thor-Davis experiment on the International Space Station (ISS), ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen has captured images of a phenomenon called...

This image of the Martian horizon was captured by the THEMIS camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU.

Mars Odyssey Beams Back Magnificent Images of Martian Horizon

Nov 29, 2023 by News Staff

In an operation that took mission scientists three months to plan, NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter captured a series of panoramic images that showcases the...

An artist’s rendition of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet TOI-1789b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Scientists Recreate Extraterrestrial Atmospheric Hazes in the Lab

Nov 27, 2023 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has begun its scientific mission, which includes the atmospheric characterization of transiting exoplanets....

This image shows an artist’s impression of what nightglow might look like to an astronaut in the polar winter regions of Mars at night. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech /Cornell University / Arizona State University / E.W. Knutsen.

ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter Observes Green Atmospheric Nightglow on Mars

Nov 13, 2023 by News Staff

The atmospheric nightglow is observed on Earth. On Mars, it was something expected, yet never observed in visible light until now. This image shows an...

This illustration depicts findings that Jupiter’s atmospheric winds penetrate the planet in a cylindrical manner and parallel to its spin axis. The most dominant jet recorded by NASA’s Juno is shown in the cutout: the jet is at 21 degrees north latitude at cloud level, but 3,000 km below that, it’s at 13 degrees north latitude. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / SWRI / MSSS / ASI / INAF / JIRAM / Björn Jónsson / CC BY 3.0.

Atmospheric Winds Penetrate Jupiter in Cylindrical Manner, Planetary Researchers Say

Nov 9, 2023 by News Staff

The violent nature of Jupiter’s atmosphere has long been a source of fascination for scientists. NASA’s Juno spacecraft has had a ringside seat to...

Venus in real colors, processed from Mariner 10 images. Image credit: Mattias Malmer / NASA.

Astronomers Directly Detect Atomic Oxygen on Venus

Nov 8, 2023 by News Staff

Atomic oxygen is produced on the dayside of Venus by photolysis of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Atomic oxygen is a key species in the mesosphere...

This image, captured by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI) onboard NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, shows the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh and its moonlet. This image was taken at 12:55 p.m. EDT (16:55 UTC) on November 1, 2023, within a minute of closest approach, from a range of approximately 430 km (270 miles). Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / SwRI / Johns Hopkins APL / NOIRLab.

Lucy Shows Its Flyby Target Dinkinesh is Actually Binary Asteroid

Nov 4, 2023 by News Staff

On November 1, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft flew by not just its first asteroid — the small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh — but its first...

Yuan et al. suggest that LLVPs are remnants of the ancient protoplanet Theia that violently collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same giant impact that created our Moon. Image credit: Hernán Cañellas.

Two Fragments of Protoplanet Theia Lie Deep within Earth, Geoscientists Say

Nov 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A giant collision between the ancient protoplanet Theia and the proto-Earth about 4.5 billion years ago may have formed Earth’s Moon as well as two continent-sized...

This image of Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

Juno Detects Various Salts and Organic Compounds on Ganymede

Nov 1, 2023 by News Staff

Using data from the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary scientists have detected hydrated sodium chloride,...

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Venus May Have Once Had Earth-Like Plate Tectonics

Oct 26, 2023 by News Staff

Venus is the least understood of the terrestrial planets. Despite broad similarities to the Earth in mass and size, Venus has no evidence of plate tectonics...

An artist’s depiction of a liquid silicate layer wrapped around the Martian core. Image credit: IPGP-CNES.

InSight Finds Evidence for Molten Silicate Layer above Martian Metallic Core

Oct 25, 2023 by News Staff

Mars’ liquid iron alloy core is surrounded by a layer of fully molten silicate (magma) about 150 km thick, according to a pair of papers published in...

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