Planetary Science News

This hemispheric view of Venus was created using radar observations, including images from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. Magellan imaged more than 98% of Venus. Gaps in the Magellan coverage were filled with images from the Earth-based Arecibo radar. The composite image was processed to improve contrast and to emphasize small features, and was color-coded to represent elevation. Magellan launched on May 4, 1989, and was deployed from the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis on May 5, 1989. The spacecraft orbited Venus from August 10, 1990, until October 13, 1994 when the spacecraft was commanded to plunge into the atmosphere of Venus. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / USGS.

Giant Rift Valleys Hint Venus is Still Tectonically Active

Jul 24, 2026 by News Staff

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. This hemispheric...

The north polar region of Io was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on December 30, 2023. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt.

Juno’s Microwave Vision Peers beneath Surface of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io

Jul 23, 2026 by Natali Anderson

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...

These images from Mars Color Imager (MARCI) aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) show Mars before (left) and during (right) the June 2018 dust storm. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

Space Weather May Warp Martian Weather during Dust Storms, Planetary Scientists Suggest

Jul 22, 2026 by News Staff

Planetary researchers have found the first evidence that bursts of energetic particles from the Sun could warm the lower atmosphere of Mars during massive...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Dinosaurs May Have Been Wiped Out by ‘Oddball’ Space Rock

Jul 17, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

By analyzing nickel isotopes preserved in the 66-million-year-old debris left by the Chicxulub impact, researchers conclude that the asteroid responsible...

This impressive view of Charon was captured on July 14, 2015. Charon’s color palette is not as diverse as Pluto’s; most striking is the reddish north (top) polar region, informally named Mordor Macula. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Pluto’s Moon Charon May Still Be Slowing Its Spin, Study Suggests

Jul 15, 2026 by News Staff

New research indicates that Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, may continue to lose rotational energy despite the pair’s long-standing tidal lock, offering...

This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance on the surface of the Red Planet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Perseverance Finds Complex Organic Matter on Mars

Jun 30, 2026 by Natali Anderson

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

The North Pole Dome crater: (A) simplified map of the East Pilbara Terrane (EPT, Western Australia), showing Paleoarchean granite domes (pink) and greenstone belts (greens and blues); the North Pole Dome (NPD) lies near the terrane center; (B) geological map of the NPD and the shatter-cone field (yellow star); (C) A quartz (Qtz)-carbonate vein cutting shatter-cone lineation. Image credit: Kirkland et al., doi: 10.1130/G54866.1.

Australia’s North Pole Dome Crater is Earth’s Oldest and Only Known Archean Impact Structure

Jun 25, 2026 by Natali Anderson

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...

This artist’s impression shows radar waves from NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar pinging Europa; the radar waves penetrate Europa’s icy surface before bouncing back to be collected by NSF’s Green Bank Telescope on Earth. Image credit: NSF / AUI / NSF’s NRAO / P.Vosteen.

Radar Observations Reveal New Clues about Europa’s Hidden Interior

Jun 17, 2026 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar and NSF’s Green Bank Telescope, astronomers from the University of California, Los Angeles, confirmed that...

XRF map of 7.53 g slice of NWA 12593: calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) illustrate the location and diversity of clasts; sulfur (S) highlights the location of cracks and terrestrial weathering. Image credit: Crow et al., doi: 10.1130/G54386.1.

Lunar Meteorite Preserves Evidence of Colossal Asteroid Strike

Jun 10, 2026 by News Staff

Planetary scientists analyzing a lunar meteorite known as Northwest Africa (NWA) 12593 have uncovered evidence of an asteroid impact that occurred 3.5...

As planets and stars travel through the streams of charged particles flowing across space, their magnetic fields act like obstacles; incoming particles are slowed and deflected, forming a boundary called the bow shock; just ahead of this boundary lies the foreshock, a variable region where magnetic conditions can accelerate some particles to nearly the speed of light. Image credit: Ben C. Smith, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Jupiter Accelerates Electrons to Near-Light Speed, Offering Clues to Cosmic Ray Origins

Jun 5, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

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...

This is an artist impression of the protoplanetary disk around HD 107146. Image credit: A. Angelich / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Meteorite Found in Africa Preserves Evidence of Long-Lost Massive Protoplanet

Jun 2, 2026 by News Staff

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,...

An artistic representation of the Zwan-Wolf effect at Mars, as observed by NASA’s MAVEN mission. Image credit: LASP / CU Boulder.

MAVEN Detects Rare Atmospheric Effect on Mars

May 19, 2026 by News Staff

New observations from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft reveal that the Zwan-Wolf effect — a phenomenon once thought...

This is an artist's impression of a water-vapor geyser on Europa. Image credit: University of Cologne.

Do Europa’s Water Plumes Really Exist? New Study Reopens Debate

May 18, 2026 by News Staff

New research led by planetary scientists from Southwest Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology suggests that evidence for vapor erupting...

Hubble’s photo of Jupiter displays the ever-changing landscape of its turbulent atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Michael H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Jupiter is Little Smaller Than We Thought

May 4, 2026 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary scientists have produced the most precise measurements of Jupiter’s size in half a century and found...

A close-up of three holes Curiosity drilled into Martian rock at a location nicknamed Mary Anning in October 2020. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Curiosity Reveals Richest Trove of Organic Molecules Yet on Mars

Apr 22, 2026 by News Staff

NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected more than 20 carbon-containing compounds — including seven never before seen on Mars — in a sample collected...

This image shows the Amapari Marker Band, a winding region where NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered unexpected signs of an ancient lake. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Curiosity Finds Chemical Traces of Ancient Shallow Lake in Gale Crater

Apr 22, 2026 by News Staff

Using data from the ChemCam instrument on NASA’s Curiosity rover, planetary scientists found minerals with high amounts of iron, manganese, and zinc...

Illustration taken from orbiter data identifying the coastal shelf region on Mars; analogous features on Earth are signatures of our global oceans, and only form over long periods of time. Image credit: A. Zaki.

Newly-Identified Geological Feature Points to Vast, Long-Dried Up Ocean in Northern Plains of Mars

Apr 20, 2026 by News Staff

A continent-like shelf beneath the Martian surface hints that a vast ocean once covered up to a third of Mars, reshaping the long-running debate over its...

This colorful view of Mercury was produced by using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER’s primary mission. These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up the planet’s surface. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Mercury’s Sulfur-Rich Magma May Rewrite How Solar System’s Innermost Planet Formed

Apr 15, 2026 by News Staff

New research from Rice University suggests sulfur keeps Mercury’s interior molten at lower temperatures, offering new clues to how the planet’s strange...

Jupiter (lower left) has a strong magnetic field which creates a cavity in its circumplanetary disk; Saturn (upper right) lacks a strong magnetic field so its circumplanetary disk evolves without a cavity. Image credit: Yuri I. Fujii / L-INSIGHT / Kyoto University / Shinichiro Kinoshita.

Jupiter’s Strong Magnetic Field May Explain Why It Has So Many Large Moons

Apr 7, 2026 by News Staff

The Jovian system has four large moons, including the largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede, whereas the Saturnian system is dominated by one giant...