Planetary Science News

Mars’ water history is fundamental to understanding an evolution of Earth-like planets. Water escapes to space as atoms, and hydrogen (H) atoms escape...

There is extensive geologic evidence of ancient volcanic activity on the Moon, but it is unclear how long that volcanism persisted. Magma fountains produce...

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has an ancient impact structure called a furrow system. This system is the largest impact structure in the outer Solar System,...

First hypothesized more than 60 years ago, the ambipolar electric field is a key driver of the polar wind, a steady outflow of charged particles into space...

Using data gathered by the Advanced Stellar Compass (ASC) and the Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) onboard NASA’s Juno orbiter, scientists have produced...

Although Venus is sometimes referred to as Earth’s twin, its current surface conditions are drastically different, making it inhospitable to life. Not...

The so-called Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid that had formed beyond the orbit of Jupiter, according to a new paper published in the...

Chloride deposits are markers for early Mars’ aqueous past, with important implications for the understanding of the Martian climate and habitability....

New data about the Martian crust gathered by NASA’s InSight lander allowed geophysicists at the University of California San Diego and the University...

One-third of Mars’ surface has shallow-buried water, but it is currently too cold for use by life. Proposals to warm Mars using greenhouse gases require...

This new image from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft shows Caralis Chaos, broken-down and dried-up remnants...

In lunar regolith samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 probe, planetary scientists have identified few-layer graphene formed together with complex...

Yellow crystals of elemental sulfur were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity rover happened to drive over a rock and crack it open on May 30, 2024, according...

Europa and Enceladus are key targets to search for evidence of alien life in our Solar System. However, the surface and shallow subsurface of these airless...

Established in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, the current definition specifies that to qualify as a planet, a celestial body must orbit...

Saturn’s moon Titan was explored by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft from 2004 to 2017. While Cassini revealed a lot about this Earth-like world, its radar...

In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold...

Within the uncertainties of involved astronomical and biological parameters, the Drake equation typically predicts that there should be many exoplanets...

Current impact rates at Mars could be 2-10 times higher than previously estimated, depending on the size of the meteoroids, according to new research. Mars;...