Space Exploration News

Planetary Rings Have Universal Particle Distribution

In this simulated image of Saturn’s rings, color is used to present information about ring particle sizes in different regions based on the measured attenuations of three radio signals. Image credit: NASA.
Aug 5, 2015 by News Staff

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have discovered that planetary rings, such as those orbiting Saturn, have a universally similar particle distribution. The study also suggests that Saturn’s rings are essentially in a steady state that does not depend on their history. In this simulated image of Saturn’s rings, color is used to present information about ring particle sizes in different regions...

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Global map of Charon as of July 30, 2015. The map is in simple cylindrical projection, with zero longitude (the Pluto-facing direction) in the center. It includes all available resolved images of the moon’s surface captured between July 7-14, 2015 on the anti-Pluto facing hemisphere. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Releases Global Map of Pluto’s Moon Charon

Aug 3, 2015 by News Staff

NASA scientists have created the best-ever global map of Charon, using images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager in July 2015. Global...

Rosetta NavCam image taken on 14 March 2015 at 85.7 km from the center of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; it has been cleaned to remove the more obvious bad pixels and cosmic ray artefacts, and intensities have been scaled. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Philae Lander Finds Organic Compounds on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Jul 31, 2015 by News Staff

A special issue of the journal Science highlights seven new studies that delve into the data that has been collected by ESA’s probe Philae on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This...

Reddish streaks cut across the surface of Tethys in this image. The streaks are narrow, curved lines on the moon’s surface, only a few miles wide but several hundred miles long. The yellowish tones on the left side of the view are a result of alteration of the moon’s surface by high-energy particles from Saturn’s magnetosphere. This particle radiation slams into the moon’s trailing hemisphere, modifying it chemically and changing its appearance in enhanced-color views like this one. The area of Tethys shown here is centered on 30 degrees north latitude, 187 degrees west longitude, and measures 305 by 258 miles (490 by 415 km) across. The original color images were obtained at a resolution of about 2,300 feet (700 m) per pixel on April 11, 2015. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Spots Strange Red ‘Arcs’ on Saturn’s Moon Tethys

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

This enhanced-color mosaic of Tethys shows a range of features including mysterious arc-shaped streaks. This mosaic of Tethys is an orthographic projection...

NASA Scientists Produce New Topographic Maps of Ceres

Jul 29, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at NASA have just released colorful new topographic maps of the dwarf planet Ceres, based on data gathered by the agency’s Dawn spacecraft. This...

Global map of Pluto as of July 28, 2015. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Releases Updated Global Map of Pluto

Jul 28, 2015 by News Staff

This map-projected view of the dwarf planet Pluto was created from images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) between July...

Several images taken using green, UV and IR spectral filters were combined to create this color view of Tethys. The moon’s dark side is faintly illuminated by reflected light from Saturn. North on Tethys is up in this view. The impact crater Odysseus is seen at the left. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Snaps New Image of Saturn’s Moon Tethys

Jul 28, 2015 by News Staff

The 280-mile-wide (450 km) impact crater Odysseus on Tethys stands out brightly from the rest of the illuminated crescent as seen by the NASA/ESA Cassini...

The hazes in Pluto’s atmosphere provide a crucial link between the sunlight-driven chemistry in the upper atmosphere and the reddish-brown hydrocarbons called tholins that rain down and darken the surface. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Sheds More Light on Pluto’s Atmosphere

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

Just seven hours after closest approach, the spacecraft looked back and captured an incredible image of the dwarf planet’s atmosphere, backlit by the...

This artist’s concept shows a windbot bobbing through the skies of Jupiter, drawing energy from turbulent winds there; the windbot is portrayed as a polyhedron with sections that spin to absorb wind energy and create lift, although other potential configurations are being investigated. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Windbots Could Explore Solar System’s Gas Giants

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are investigating the feasibility of creating a ‘windbot,’ a new kind of probe designed to...

This mosaic provides the best view ever obtained of the dwarf planet Pluto. The lower right edge of the planet in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Releases New Portrait of Dwarf Planet Pluto

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission have released the sharpest view yet of Pluto. This mosaic provides the best view ever obtained of the dwarf...

This image of the southern region of Sputnik Planum reveals icy plains, two mountain ranges, and a region where it appears that ancient, heavily-cratered terrain has been invaded by much newer icy deposits. The large crater is about 30 miles (50 km) wide. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA’s New Horizons Discovers Exotic Ices on Pluto

Jul 24, 2015 by News Staff

The New Horizons spacecraft has found evidence of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices flowing across the dwarf planet’s surface. In the northern...

New Image from New Horizons Shows Pluto, Charon in Near-True Color

Jul 24, 2015 by News Staff

This image of the dwarf planet and its largest moon was captured by New Horizons’ Ralph color imager on July 14, 2015, five hours before Pluto closest...

This image was captured on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 48,000 miles and received on Earth on July 20. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Spots Second Mountain Range on Pluto

Jul 22, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has discovered a new mountain range in a heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio. This image was captured on July 14,...

These images show Nix and Hydra. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Beams Back New Images of Pluto’s Moons Nix and Hydra

Jul 22, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has captured the sharpest pictures yet of Pluto’s small satellites Nix and Hydra. Nix, shown here in enhanced color...

This image of Pluto (center) was taken on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 2.4 billion miles (3.9 billion km). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Spies Pluto from Saturn Orbit

Jul 21, 2015 by News Staff

As NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft sailed past Pluto, collecting invaluable science data, the space agency’s Cassini orbiter turned its gaze in that...

Earth as seen on July 6, 2015 from a distance of one million miles by NASA’s EPIC camera on the DSCOVR satellite. Image credit: NOAA / NASA / U.S. Air Force.

DSCOVR Satellite Captures Its First Photo of Earth

Jul 21, 2015 by News Staff

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a joint mission between NOAA, NASA, and U.S. Air Force, has captured its first image of Earth. Earth as seen...

Pluto nearly fills the frame in this image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015, when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 km) from the dwarf planet’s surface. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto on July 14. The color image has been combined with lower-resolution color information from the Ralph instrument that was acquired earlier on July 13. This view is dominated by the large, bright feature informally named the ‘heart,’ which measures around 1,000 miles (1,600 km) across. The heart’s diameter is about the same distance as from Denver to Chicago, in America’s heartland. The heart borders darker equatorial terrains, and the mottled terrain to its east (right) are complex. However, even at this resolution, much of the heart’s interior appears remarkably featureless-possibly a sign of ongoing geologic processes. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA’s New Horizons Uncovers Hidden Secrets of Pluto’s Atmosphere

Jul 20, 2015 by News Staff

The Alice instrument – a lightweight (4.4 kg), low-power (4.4 Watt) imaging spectrograph aboard NASA’s New Horizons – has observed Pluto’s...

This image shows Pluto’s small moon Nix. NASA scientists believe we are looking at one end of moon’s elongated body. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Captures Image of Pluto’s Moon Nix

Jul 18, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this view of Pluto’s small moon Nix on July 13, 2015, from a distance of about 360,000 miles (590,000 km). This...

This view of a portion of Pluto’s Sputnik Planum shows enigmatic features: the surface appears to be divided into irregularly shaped segments that are ringed by narrow troughs, some of which contain darker materials; features that appear to be groups of mounds and fields of small pits are also visible. This image was acquired on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 km). Features as small as a half-mile (1 km) across are visible. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Close-Up of Pluto Reveals Very Young, Craterless Plain

Jul 17, 2015 by News Staff

According to New Horizons planetary scientists, this frozen region is no more than 100 million years old, and is possibly still being shaped by geologic...

This image of Pluto’s largest moon Charon was taken on July 13 from a distance of 289,000 miles (466,000 km). The inset is a black-and-white close-up taken on July 14. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Releases New Close-Up of Pluto’s Moon Charon

Jul 17, 2015 by News Staff

A close-up image of an area on Pluto’s largest moon Charon reveals a depression with a peak in the middle. This new image of an area on Charon has a...

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