Space Exploration News

Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. Image credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / Ross Beyer.

Pluto’s Surface Features Get Official Names

Sep 7, 2017 by News Staff

The International Astronomical Union (IAU), the internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies and their surface features, has officially...

This radar image shows the near-Earth asteroid Florence and its two moons. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

Asteroid Florence Has Two Small Moons, NASA Radar Reveals

Sep 4, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers working with NASA’s 230-foot (70-m) Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, CA, have released the first radar images of the near-Earth asteroid...

An illustration of JAXA’s Akatsuki orbiter successfully tracking lower-altitude clouds during the night with its near-infrared camera IR2. Image credit: PLANET-C Project Team.

JAXA’s Akatsuki Orbiter Spots Equatorial Jet in Venus’ Atmosphere

Sep 1, 2017 by News Staff

New observations from Akatsuki, a robotic spacecraft launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2010 to orbit Venus, have revealed an...

Saturn’s north polar region is pictured in great detail in this Cassini image (false color) obtained on April 26, 2017, from a range of 166,000 miles (267,000 km). This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 44 degrees above the ring plane. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s North Polar Vortex Stuns in New Cassini Photo

Aug 29, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter captured this view of Saturn’s north polar vortex on April 26, 2017, the day it began its Grand Finale, a daring series...

Oxo Crater is the second-brightest feature on Ceres. Only Occator’s central area is brighter. Oxo lies near the 0 degree meridian that defines the edge of many Ceres maps, making this small feature easy to overlook. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft took this image in its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of 385 km from the surface of Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI.

Crater Slope Avalanches Reveal Ceres’ Surface Water Ice

Aug 25, 2017 by James Romero

Surface water ice found within a brilliantly bright crater on the dwarf planet Ceres is being exposed by avalanches reprocessing impact deposits in just...

Moon’s Interior Likely Contains No Water, New Research Says

Aug 22, 2017 by News Staff

A new study led by a Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher contradicts a recently published paper, which suggested the interior of Earth’s only...

A cutaway depicts the interior of Neptune (left). In the new experiment, Kraus et al studied a plastic simulating compounds formed from methane -- a molecule with just one carbon bound to four hydrogen atoms that causes the distinct blue cast of Neptune; methane forms hydrocarbon (hydrogen and carbon) chains that respond to high pressure and temperature to form ‘diamond rain’ in the interiors of ice giants like Neptune; the authors were able to recreate similar conditions using high-powered optical lasers and watch the small diamonds form in real time with X-rays. Image credit: Greg Stewart, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

It Rains Diamonds on ‘Ice Giant’ Planets

Aug 21, 2017 by News Staff

A new experiment at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory reveals how large diamonds may be formed from just hydrogen and carbon in the deep interior of...

(3122) Florence will pass safely by Earth on September 1, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles. Image credit: University of Colorado.

Asteroid Florence to Fly Safely Past Earth on September 1

Aug 21, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A relatively large near-Earth asteroid will safely fly by pur planet on September 1, 2017, according to NASA. (3122) Florence will pass safely by Earth...

This is a false color image of Saturn, with exaggerated colors to enhance subtle variations in color to bring out details of the cloud structure. The view is centered on 46 degrees north latitude on Saturn. The filter centered at 727 nm was used for red in this image; the filter centered at 750 nm was used for blue. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Image: Saturn’s Clouds Up Close

Aug 17, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini mission has shared an amazing close-up portrait of Saturn taken from the Cassini robotic probe. This is a false color image of Saturn,...

Artist’s impression of an extrasolar ‘ice giant.’

New Study Sheds Light on Chemical Make-Up of Ice Giants

Aug 11, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of planetary researchers from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and Jilin University, China, has used computer simulations to attempt...

The North North Temperate Little Red Spot 1. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Seán Doran.

Juno Sees Jupiter’s ‘Little Red Spot’

Aug 7, 2017 by News Staff

A stunning new image of Jupiter captured by NASA’s Juno robotic orbiter shows a huge storm called the North North Temperate Little Red Spot 1 (NN-LRS-1),...

This true color image of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was taken by the JunoCam imager onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft on July 10, 2017. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Björn Jónsson.

NASA Unveils True Color Close-Up of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Aug 3, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno spacecraft took this stunning photo of Jupiter’s most distinctive feature, its Great Red Spot, from orbit. This true color image of Jupiter’s...

Titan is shown in an optical-infrared (atmosphere-surface) composite from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. In a liquid methane environment, vinyl cyanide may form membranes. Image credit: B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF / NASA.

ALMA Detects Vinyl Cyanide in Atmosphere of Titan

Jul 30, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers using archival data from the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) have found evidence that molecules of vinyl cyanide, also...

The atmospheric superrotation at the upper clouds of Venus. While the superrotation is present in both day and night sides of Venus, it seems more uniform in the day (AKATSUKI-UVI image, right), while in the night this seems to become more irregular and unpredictable (composite of Venus Express/VIRTIS images, left). Image credit: JAXA / ESA / J. Peralta, JAXA / R. Hueso, UPV/EHU.

Research Sheds New Light on Venus’ Superrotating Atmosphere

Jul 28, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers led by JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science has discovered unexpected patterns of slow motion and stationary waves...

Map of ESPAT (effective single particle absorption thickness) values and associated water contents derived from Moon Mineralogy Mapper spectra. Numerous locations of increased water content (arrows) are associated with previously recognized pyroclastic deposits ranging in area from thousands of square km to much smaller deposits recently identified in high-resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images. A - Aristarchus Plateau, H – Harbinger, H&D - Humorum & Doppelmayer, O – Orientale, RB - Rima Bode, SA - Sinus Aestuum, SG - Sulpicius Gallus, TL - Taurus-Littrow, V – Vaporum. Image credit: Ralph E. Milliken & Shuai Li, doi: 10.1038/ngeo2993.

Chandrayaan-1 Orbiter Spots Water-Rich Volcanic Deposits on Lunar Surface

Jul 25, 2017 by News Staff

Ancient volcanic deposits distributed across the surface of the Moon contain unexpectedly high amounts of water compared with surrounding terrains, according...

This image shows Watson 021, a single H7 ordinary chondrite, weighing 135 g. The sample has a large crack, lined with alteration minerals, that runs down its middle and only one third of its fusion crust remains intact. This meteorite shows near complete oxidation of its reduced metal and sulfide phases making this a W4 chondrite. Watson 021 is extensively shocked, exhibiting globular silicate metal emulsions and shock veins that crosscut the sample. Tait et al found that microbial communities in samples of Nullarbor Plain soil are more diverse than those in Watson 021 and other meteorites, which are highly uniform in their species evenness and species richness. Image credit: Tait et al, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01227.

Research Opens New Way to Understand Possible Martian Life through Meteorites

Jul 20, 2017 by News Staff

New research from Monash University and the University of Queensland has added a new dimension to understanding life on the Red Planet with the discovery...

Artist’s conception of the dust and gas surrounding a newly formed planetary system. Image credit: NASA.

Earth’s Water Explained by Gas Giant Gluttony

Jul 19, 2017 by James Romero

Water on Earth, Mars and everywhere within the inner Solar System can be traced back to the rapid waist-expanding growth of Jupiter and Saturn, which knocked...

A global map of the dwarf planet Pluto. Terrain south of about 30°S was in darkness leading up to and during the flyby, so is shown in black. ‘S’ and ‘T’ indicate Sputnik Planitia and Tartarus Dorsa. Image credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / LPI.

NASA Releases Spectacular Flyover Videos, Global Maps of Pluto and Charon

Jul 18, 2017 by News Staff

On July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made its historic flight through the Pluto system. On the two-year anniversary of the flyby, the New...

This image of the Great Red Spot was taken on July 10, 2017, as Juno performed its seventh close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was 8,648 miles (13,917 km) from the tops of the clouds of the planet. Image credit: NASA / SwRI / MSSS.

Juno Captures Close-Up Views of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Jul 13, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has provided planetary researchers the first close-up views of Jupiter’s mysterious, roiling storm called the Great Red Spot. This...