Planetary Science News

An artist’s rendering of the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Image credit: Benjamin de Bivort, debivort.org / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Crystalline Nitriles Occur on Surface of Titan, New Research Suggests

Aug 27, 2021 by News Staff

Titan, Saturn’s icy moon, is an ideal planetary body to study prebiotic chemistry, origins of life, and the potential habitability of an extraterrestrial...

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Crust of Dwarf Planet Ceres is Rich in Water Ice, New Research Confirms

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

Using high spatial-resolution data gathered by the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, planetary researchers have detected...

This artist’s concept depicts the dry environment seen at Mars today versus the early Martian environment. Image credit: Simon Fraser University.

Regional Dust Storms Enhance Martian Water Loss to Space: Study

Aug 17, 2021 by News Staff

Individual regional dust events can boost planetary water loss by a factor of five to ten and represent an important driver of atmospheric evolution on...

An illustration of Saturn and its ‘fuzzy’ core. Image credit: R. Hurt, IPAC / Caltech.

Saturn Has Diffuse, Stably Stratified Core, New Study Says

Aug 16, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on ripples in Saturn’s rings have revealed new information about the gas giant’s mysterious...

Dragonfly was officially selected for flight by NASA as the fourth New Frontiers mission on 2019 June 27. Launch is planned for 2027, with Titan arrival in the mid-2030s, during the local northern hemisphere winter. Image credit: NASA.

NASA’s Dragonfly Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Has Big Science Goals

Aug 11, 2021 by News Staff

NASA’s Dragonfly mission will send a rotorcraft lander to the surface of Titan in the mid-2030s. Dragonfly was officially selected for flight by NASA...

This infrared view of Ganymede was obtained by the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the July 20, 2021 flyby. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Juno Team Creates Infrared Map of Ganymede

Aug 9, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, researchers have produced a new infrared map of...

Jupiter is shown in visible light for context underneath an artistic impression of the Jovian upper atmosphere’s infrared glow. The brightness of this upper atmosphere layer corresponds to temperatures, from hot to cold, in this order: white, yellow, bright red and lastly, dark red. The aurorae are the hottest regions and the image shows how heat may be carried by winds away from the aurora and cause planet-wide heating. Image credit: J. O’Donoghue, JAXA / Hubble / NASA / ESA / A. Simon / J. Schmidt.

Jupiter’s Powerful Polar Aurorae are Responsible for Upper-Atmospheric Heating, Study Shows

Aug 5, 2021 by News Staff

The upper atmosphere of Jupiter is hotter than expected from the amount of sunlight that it receives: the average temperature should be about minus 73...

Ankylosaurus magniventris, a large armored dinosaur species, witnesses the impact of an asteroid, falling on the Yucatan peninsula 66 million years ago. Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

Dinosaur-Killing Chicxulub Asteroid Came from Outer Part of Main Belt, Study Suggests

Aug 2, 2021 by News Staff

A team of planetary scientists from the Department of Space Studies at the Southwest Research Institute has combined computer models of asteroid evolution...

Schematic view of the propagation of seismic waves in the Martian crust and seismic conversions at the base of the discontinuity, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). Image credit: IPGP.

NASA’s InSight Lander Provides New Information about Crust, Mantle and Core of Mars

Jul 26, 2021 by News Staff

According to new analyses of data from the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument deployed during NASA’s InSight mission, Mars likely...

Roth et al. reveal the first evidence for water vapor in the atmosphere of Ganymede, the result of the thermal escape of water vapor from the moon’s icy surface. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. daSilva.

Hubble Detects Water Vapor in Atmosphere of Ganymede

Jul 26, 2021 by News Staff

Jupiter’s icy satellite Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System. Water ice on its surface is frozen solid in frigid temperatures as low as minus...

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter at Mars. Image credit: D. Ducros / ESA.

ESA’s ExoMars Orbiter Detects No Methane in Martian Atmosphere

Jul 22, 2021 by News Staff

The ‘methane mystery’ on Mars has been ongoing for many years, with contradictory findings from seveal missions, wuch as ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s...

The three main weather patterns on Venus. Image credit: Imamura et al. / JAXA.

Akatsuki Observes Nightside Equatorial Circulation in Atmosphere of Venus

Jul 21, 2021 by News Staff

Venus is well known for its rotating upper atmosphere, which sweeps around the planet once every 4 Earth days. This is in stark contrast to the rotation...

This image was taken by the WATSON camera on the robotic arm of Perseverance on April 6, 2021 (46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Perseverance Begins Search for Signs of Ancient Martian Life

Jul 21, 2021 by News Staff

Along with analyzing rocks using X-rays and ultraviolet light, NASA’s Perseverance rover will zoom in for close-ups of rock surfaces that might show...

The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Small Impacts Mechanically Churn Uppermost Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa, Researchers Say

Jul 13, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Planetary scientists are studying the cumulative effects of small impacts on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa as they prepare to explore the icy...

Artist’s impression of a volcano erupting on Venus. Image credit: ESA / AOES Medialab.

Phosphine in Atmosphere of Venus Points to Explosive Volcanic Activity

Jul 13, 2021 by News Staff

In 2020, planetary scientists detected small amounts of the biosignature gas phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Venus using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope...

Jupiter’s X-ray aurorae. Image credit: ESA / NASA / Zhonghua Yao / William Dunn.

Planetary Scientists Solve Mystery of Jupiter’s X-Ray Auroral Flares

Jul 12, 2021 by News Staff

The rapidly rotating, strong magnetic field of Jupiter provides a natural lab that is key to understanding the dynamics of high-energy plasmas. Spectacular...

An artist’s impression of the Hadean Earth: huge, impact-generated lava lakes coexisted with surface liquid water, under a thick greenhouse atmosphere sustained by lava outgassing. Image credit: Simone Marchi & Dan Durda, Southwest Research Institute.

Earth’s Early Bombardment May Have Been Heavier than Previously Thought

Jul 9, 2021 by News Staff

Once the Earth was fully formed about 4.5 billion years ago, its subsequent evolution was governed by complex geophysical processes. The planet, however,...

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this stunning mosaic of Enceladus on October 5, 2008 as the spacecraft sped away from this geologically active moon of Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Tidal Stress May Be Causing Constant Icequakes along Enceladus’ Tiger Stripes

Jul 8, 2021 by News Staff

Saturn’s 500-km- (300-mile) diameter moon Enceladus is covered in ice which contains many long fractures or rifts, including fractures called tiger stripes....

An artist’s impression of the Gliese 414 system. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Modestly Tilted Planets More Capable of Evolving Complex Life, Study Suggests

Jul 8, 2021 by News Staff

Earth’s sphere tilts on its axis at an angle of 23.5 degrees; this gives us our seasons, with parts of the planet receiving more direct sunlight in summer...