Planetary Science News

This view of Titan is among the last images NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth before it plunged into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Tricarbon Molecule Detected in Atmosphere of Titan

Mar 18, 2024 by Natali Anderson

The tricarbon molecule (C3) is likely produced in the upper atmosphere of Titan by the reaction of abundant acetylene with atomic carbon. This view of...

Noctis Mons. Image credit: NASA / USGS / Lee et al.

Planetary Scientists Discover Giant Shield Volcano on Mars

Mar 13, 2024 by News Staff

Provisionally designated Noctis Mons, the newly-discovered volcano is located just south of Mars’ equator, in Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus, west of Valles...

This image from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera shows the globe of Mars set against a dark background. The disk of the planet features yellow, orange, blue and green patches, all with an overall muted grey hue, representing the varying composition of the surface. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / G. Michael / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Drives Deep-Ocean Circulation in Earth’s Oceans, Study Suggests

Mar 13, 2024 by News Staff

Geoscientists from Australia and France have used the geological record of Earth’s deep oceans to discover a connection between the orbits of our home...

This illustration shows charged particles from Jupiter impacting Europa’s surface, splitting frozen water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen molecules; scientists believe some of these newly created oxygen gases could migrate toward the moon’s subsurface ocean, as depicted in the inset image. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SWRI / PU.

Europa Produces Less Oxygen than Previously Thought

Mar 4, 2024 by News Staff

Using data from the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary scientists have calculated the...

This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows an area close to Mars’ north pole. The image comprises data gathered by Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on April 14, 2023. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Mars Express Spots Sand Dunes and Ice Layers at Martian North Pole

Mar 1, 2024 by News Staff

New images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft show the terrain surrounding the permanent north polar ice...

Jezero Crater, one of the paleolakes examined in the study, is a paleolake and potential landing site for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission to look for past life; the outlet canyon carved by overflow flooding is visible in the upper right side of the crater; ancient rivers carved the inlets on the left side of the crater. Image credit: NASA / Tim Goudge.

Ancient Mars May Have Had Hydrothermal Systems

Feb 22, 2024 by News Staff

The history of water on Mars is a puzzle that is of interest to planetary scientists as well as the general public. The Red Planet currently has water...

Beyond Neptune, there is a large disk of small objects, called the Kuiper Belt and beyond that is the Oort Cloud, home of the comets. This artwork shows a section of Kuiper Belt, crowded with the icy cores of potential comets. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Kuiper Belt May Be Much Larger than Previously Estimated

Feb 20, 2024 by News Staff

Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are thought to be the dominant source of interplanetary dust particles in the outer Solar System due to both collisions between...

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.

Titan Most Likely Non-Habitable, Astrobiologists Say

Feb 20, 2024 by News Staff

Saturn’s moon Titan has an organic-rich atmosphere and surface with a subsurface ocean that may represent a habitable environment. In a new study, astrobiologists...

Glein et al. found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity deep within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake. Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

Webb Finds Evidence of Hydrothermal Processes in Interiors of Eris and Makemake

Feb 15, 2024 by News Staff

The icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake have surfaces bearing methane ice of unknown origin. According to an analysis of data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James...

A topographic map of the Eridania region of Mars; volcanic structures described by Michalski et al. are classified by morphology and morphometrics. Image credit: Michalski et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-023-02191-7.

Early Mars was Tectonically and Volcanically Active, Study Suggests

Feb 12, 2024 by News Staff

The relatively well-preserved ancient crust of Mars provides a natural window into early planetary evolution not available on Earth. Mars has generally...

The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft imaged Io, the most geologically active body in our Solar System, on February 3, 2024, from a distance of about 7,904 km (4,911 miles). Image credit: NASA / SwRI / MSSS.

NASA’s Juno Orbiter Captures Stunning Images of Jupiter’s Moon Io

Feb 9, 2024 by Natali Anderson

On February 3, 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a second close flyby of Io, the fifth of Jupiter’s moons and the third largest. Like the previous...

Mimas’ surface, like the surfaces of most of the other major Saturnian moons without atmospheres, is not pure ice but contains some dark impurities; the relatively dark markings appear along the lower portion of the walls of the 130-km-wide Herschel Crater (the peak in the middle of the crater is about as tall as Mount Everest; the impact that made it likely almost destroyed the moon) and some of the smaller craters; scientists interpret this darkening as evidence for the gradual concentration of impurities from evaporating icy materials in areas where the dark impurities slide slowly down the crater wall. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Moon Mimas Harbors Global Ocean beneath Its Icy Shell, Study Suggests

Feb 7, 2024 by News Staff

From detailed analysis of Mimas’ orbital motion based on data from NASA’s Cassini mission, planetary researchers from Sorbonne Université, Nantes...

Predicted areas of slope instability in the south polar region of the Moon; the image is centered on Shackleton crater; locations of proposed Artemis III landing regions are shown (blue boxes); the model predicts that large portions of the interior walls of Shackleton crater are susceptible to landslides (inset), as are portions of the interior crater walls in the Nobile Rim 1 region. Image credit: Watters et al., doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad1332.

Earth’s Moon is Shrinking, New Modeling Study Suggests

Jan 29, 2024 by News Staff

Earth’s Moon shrank more than 46 m (150 feet) in circumference as its core gradually cooled over the last few hundred million years, according to a paper...

This image shows a height map of the Martian surface, with lowest land in blue and highest in white. Image credit: ESA.

Mars Express Finds New Evidence for Ice-Rich Layered Deposits in Medusae Fossae

Jan 22, 2024 by News Staff

Over 15 years ago, ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft studied the Medusae Fossae Formation, revealing enigmatic deposits up to 2.5 km deep. From those early...

A map of the titanium abundances of the Moon’s surface, obtained from NASA’s Clementine spacecraft; the red parts indicate extremely high concentrations compared to terrestrial rocks. Image credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Scientists Solve Major Puzzle in Moon’s Geology

Jan 15, 2024 by News Staff

New research from the University of Bristol sheds light on the origin of titanium-rich basaltic magmas on the Moon. A map of the titanium abundances of...

Venus in real colors, processed from Mariner 10 images. Image credit: Mattias Malmer / NASA.

Combination of Two Minerals Can Explain Mysterious UV Absorber in Clouds of Venus

Jan 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The clouds of Venus are believed to be composed of sulfuric acid and minor constituents including iron-bearing compounds. Respective concentrations of...

Summary of the fate of simple and complex organics on Titan’s surface. Image credit: Yu et al., doi: 10.1029/2023GL106156.

‘Magic Islands’ on Titan’s Hydrocarbon Lakes Are Floating Chunks of Porous Organic Solids

Jan 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, has a unique atmosphere that transforms simple gases like methane and nitrogen into more complex organic compounds....

Enceladus’ tiger stripes are known to be spewing ice from the moon’s icy interior into space, creating a cloud of fine ice particles over the moon’s south pole and creating Saturn’s mysterious E-ring. Evidence for this has come from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Pictured here, a high resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby. Tiger stripes are visible in false-color blue. Image credit: NASA / ESA / JPL / SSI / Cassini Imaging Team.

Enceladus’ Surface May Contain Relatively High Abundances of Pristine Organic Material

Dec 21, 2023 by News Staff

Enceladus, the sixth-biggest moon of Saturn, presents a remarkable opportunity in our Solar System for searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life,...

Illustration of plume activity on Enceladus. Image credit: Peter et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-023-02160-0.

Planetary Researchers Detect Hydrogen Cyanide in Plume of Enceladus

Dec 17, 2023 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Cassini mission, planetary scientists have detected several compounds of strong importance to the habitability of Saturn’s icy...