Planetary Science News

Unexpected Mechanism Explains Formation of Pluto-Charon System

Pluto and Charon are the largest binary system in the known population of trans-Neptunian objects in the outer Solar System. Their shared external orbital axis suggests a linked evolutionary history and collisional origin. Their radii, 1,200 km and 600 km, respectively, and Charon’s wide circular orbit of about 16 Pluto radii require a formation mechanism that places a large mass fraction into orbit, with sufficient angular momentum to drive tidal orbital expansion. Denton et al. numerically modeled the collisional capture of Charon by Pluto using simulations that include material strength. Image credit: Denton et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-024-01612-0.
Jan 6, 2025 by News Staff

Planetary scientists at the University of Arizona say they have discovered an entirely new type of cosmic collision. Pluto and Charon are the largest binary system in the known population of trans-Neptunian objects in the outer Solar System. Their shared external orbital axis suggests a linked evolutionary history and collisional origin. Their radii, 1,200 km and 600 km, respectively, and Charon’s wide circular orbit of about 16 Pluto radii...

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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.

New Study Advances Understanding of Habitability of Ocean Worlds within Solar System and Beyond

Dec 30, 2024 by News Staff

In a new paper, planetary researchers from Texas A&M University and the University of Washington introduce a new thermodynamic concept called the centotectic...

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Image credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Parker Solar Probe Survives Closest-Ever Approach to Sun

Dec 30, 2024 by News Staff

On December 24, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe soared just 6.1 million km (3.8 million miles) above the surface of our home star, racing through the...

Frosty scene in the Australe Scopuli region at the south pole of Mars. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Carbon Dioxide Ice Turns Martian Polar Region White

Dec 18, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft have captured stunning images of an enigmatic landscape...

This image of an impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars was taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 30, 2015. The crater is approximately 3,300 feet (1-km) wide and appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta. The steep inner slopes are carved by gullies and include possible recurring slope lineae on the equator-facing slopes. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / Alfred McEwen.

New Study Examines Elusive Nature of Martian Liquid Brines

Dec 18, 2024 by News Staff

Mars is located at the extreme limits of brine stability; and only a combination of the most favorable environmental conditions and lowest eutectic temperature...

Hubble observed Saturn on June 20, 2019 as the planet made its closest approach to Earth this year, at approximately 808 million miles away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / OPAL Team.

Saturn’s Rings May Be as Old as the Gas Giant Itself: Study

Dec 17, 2024 by News Staff

Saturn’s icy rings could be much older than they appear due to their resistance to pollution from impacts with rocky debris. Hyodo et al. suggest that...

The internal structure of Io as revealed by the present study. Image credit: Sofia Shen / NASA / JPL / Caltech.

Jupiter’s Moon Io Does Not Have Subsurface Magma Ocean, Study Suggests

Dec 13, 2024 by News Staff

Volcanic activity on Io — the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter and the most volcanically active body in the Solar System — is unlikely to...

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

Venus Has Never Been Habitable, New Study Suggests

Dec 9, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary researcher Tereza Constantinou and her colleagues at the University of Cambridge have examined the chemical composition of the Venusian atmosphere...

This false-color four-image mosaic comprises images taken from a distance of 28.7 km from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 3 February 2015. The mosaic measures 4.2 x 4.6 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Study: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s Water Has Similar Molecular Signature to Earth’s Water

Dec 4, 2024 by NASA

Contradicting the results of several recent studies, the new findings reopen the case that Jupiter-family comets like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko could have...

Northwest Africa 7034. Image credit: NASA.

Meteorite Provides Evidence for Hydrothermal Activity on Ancient Mars

Nov 27, 2024 by News Staff

Scientists from Curtin University and the University of Adelaide have analyzed a 4.45-billion-year-old zircon grain from a famous Martian meteorite called...

Castillo-Rogez et al. show that there likely is an ocean layer in four of Uranus’ major moons: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon; salty -- or briny -- oceans lie under the ice and atop layers of water-rich rock and dry rock; Miranda is too small to retain enough heat for an ocean layer. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA to Search for Subsurface Oceans within Uranian Moons

Nov 26, 2024 by News Staff

Several of the icy moons in the Jupiter and Saturn systems appear to possess internal liquid water oceans. Our knowledge of the Uranian moons is more limited...

1:3M mapping (originally mapped at 1:200,000) of a portion of the Orientale basin. The small craters near ‘Pa’ (red and yellow stars) excavate Orientale melt from beneath the mare and serve as a useful type example for similar small craters in similar basins. Maunder, the large crater in the NW part of the map, is Eratosthenian in age. Image credit: Runyon et al., doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad862f.

Planetary Scientists Create Geological Map of Moon’s Oriental Basin

Nov 20, 2024 by News Staff

Researchers at the Planetary Science Institute have compiled a 1:200,000-scale geological map of the lunar Orientale basin, focusing on identifying the...

The Lafayette meteorite was chipped off the surface of Mars and then sped through space for roughly 11 million years. It eventually found its way into a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and has since been teaching scientists about Mars. Image credit: Purdue Brand Studio.

Minerals in Lafayette Meteorite Were Exposed to Martian Liquid Water 742 Million Years Ago: Study

Nov 15, 2024 by News Staff

An asteroid struck Mars 11 million years ago and sent pieces of the planet hurtling through space; one of these chunks eventually crashed into the Earth....

The first panel of this artist’s concept depicts how Uranus’ magnetosphere was behaving before the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2; the second panel shows an unusual kind of solar weather was happening during the 1986 flyby, giving scientists a skewed view of the magnetosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Voyager 2’s Flyby of Uranus in 1986 was During Anomalous Solar Event, New Study Suggests

Nov 11, 2024 by News Staff

When NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, it provided scientists’ first close glimpse of this ice-giant planet. Alongside the discovery...

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.

Planetary Researchers Examine Tidal Effects on Interiors of Planets and Their Moons

Nov 7, 2024 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, TU Delft, and Caltech has developed a new method to compute...

The Zhurong landing site. Image credit: Wu et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75507-w.

Ancient Coastline Spotted in Martian Utopia Region

Nov 7, 2024 by News Staff

Sedimentary mineral deposits found on the surface of Mars may have been left by an ancient sea 3.5 billion years ago. New results from China’s Tianwen-1/Zhurong...

Perseverance captured the silhouette of Phobos as it passed in front of the Sun on September 30, 2024. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS.

Perseverance Views Transit of Martian Moon Phobos across the Sun

Oct 30, 2024 by News Staff

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured the silhouette of Phobos — the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of Mars — as it passed in...

The white edges along these gullies in Mars’ Terra Sirenum are believed to be dusty water ice. Khuller et al. think meltwater could form beneath the surface of this kind of ice, providing a place for possible photosynthesis. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

Meltwater beneath Martian Ice Could Support Microbial Life, Researchers Suggest

Oct 17, 2024 by News Staff

On Earth, solar radiation can transmit down to multiple meters within ice, depending on its optical properties. Organisms within ice can harness energy...

This is an artist's impression of an asteroid breaking up. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Most of Earth’s Meteorites Came from Few Asteroid Breakup Events, Research Suggests

Oct 16, 2024 by News Staff

New research shows that approximately 70% of meteorites originate from at least three recent break-ups of massive asteroids. This is an artist’s...

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

Earth’s New Mini-Moon is Sign of Tremendous Potential for Space Mining, Scientists Say

Oct 16, 2024 by News Staff

2024 PT5, a new mini-moon of our planet, arrived in Earth’s orbit on September 29, 2024. 2024 PT5 will experience a temporarily captured flyby in...

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