Planetary scientists have long observed water-ice clouds in the Martian middle atmosphere (18.6-37.2 miles, or 30-60 km, above the surface). Now, a University...
Between 8 and 2 million years ago, cosmic-ray energy from one or more nearby supernovae reached Earth and pummeled the planet’s atmosphere, initiating...
In the lab, scientists have pinpointed a specific wavelength of infrared light absorbed when molecules of carbon monoxide and nitrogen join together and...
Planetary researchers from NASA’s Juno mission made the first detection beyond Earth of an internal magnetic field that changes over time — a phenomenon...
STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is a thin ribbon of pinkish-red or mauve-colored light stretching from east to west, farther south...
The tenuous nitrogen atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto is predicted to ultimately collapse and freeze over.
This high-resolution image of Pluto was...
A meteor seen over the South Pacific, off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, in 2014 likely came from interstellar space, according to new research...
New observations with the Subaru Telescope, a Japanese 8-m telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, show that aurorae at Jupiter’s poles are heating the atmosphere...
From the ground, the dance of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, can look peaceful. But those shimmering sheets of colored lights are the product...
The discovery of life on Mars would get pretty much everyone excited. But the scientists hunting for it would probably be happy no matter what the outcome...
ESO’s GRAVITY instrument, a second generation imaging instrument installed on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, has made the first direct observation...
Beginning Tuesday, February 19, 2019, NASA’s InSight lander will provide a daily report of atmospheric weather conditions on Mars. This tool, developed...
By analyzing several years of weather radar observations in Finland, a research team led by University of Helsinki scientists has discovered that planes...
New research tackles one of the greatest mysteries about Saturn’s moon Titan: the origin of its present-day nitrogen atmosphere. Published in the Astrophysical...
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft observed Saturn’s ring system in unprecedented detail, and a team of planetary researchers from the University of California...
In the final phase of NASA’s Cassini mission, the spacecraft dived between Saturn and its innermost ring, at altitudes 1,616-2,423 miles (2,600-3,900...
Extrasolar ‘Neptunes’ are exoplanets with masses and radii similar to those of the ice giants in the Solar System. In 2015, astronomers using the NASA/ESA...
An international team of astronomers has detected helium escaping from the upper atmosphere of HAT-P-11b, a Neptune-mass exoplanet located in the constellation...
