Tag Archive for 'Atmosphere'

This new Hubble image of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet’s Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds swirling in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years. The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The bands are created by differences in the thickness and height of the ammonia ice clouds. The colorful bands, which flow in opposite directions at various latitudes, result from different atmospheric pressures. Lighter bands rise higher and have thicker clouds than the darker bands. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley.

Hubble Snaps Super-Sharp Image of Jupiter

Aug 9, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained a detailed image of Jupiter on June 27, 2019, when the gas giant was approximately 400 million miles (644...

Using satellite data and models, Barkley et al identified a previously underestimated source of soluble phosphorus: biomass burning aerosol transported from southern Africa that can supply phosphorus to the Amazon, Tropical Atlantic and Southern oceans. Image credit: Scite / University of Miami.

Smoke from African Fires is Fertilizing Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic and Southern Oceans: Study

Aug 2, 2019 by News Staff

Smoke from fires in southern Africa is the largest contributor of phosphorus — an important agricultural fertilizer — to the Amazon rainforest,...

This artist’s illustration shows a giant cloud of hydrogen streaming off the warm Neptune GJ 3470b. The host star’s intense radiation is heating the hydrogen in the planet’s upper atmosphere to a point where it escapes into space. GJ 3470b is losing hydrogen at a rate 100 times faster than a previously observed warm Neptune whose atmosphere is also evaporating away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Player, STScI.

Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes Probe Atmosphere of Sub-Neptune

Jul 3, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers are curious about the two recently-discovered classes of planets not found in the Solar System: the so-called super-Earths and sub-Neptunes,...

This illustration shows NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander approaching a site on Titan. Image credit: NASA / JHU-APL.

NASA Announces Dragonfly Mission to Explore Saturn’s Hazy Moon Titan

Jul 2, 2019 by News Staff

NASA announced last week that it had selected the Dragonfly mission to explore the prebiotic organic chemistry and look for signs of life on Titan, the...

Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 1,550 miles (2,500 km) from the surface of the planet. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long and up to 5 miles (8 km) deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 15.5 miles (25 km) high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Curiosity Detects Transient Methane Plume on Mars

Jun 25, 2019 by News Staff

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tunable laser spectrometer onboard Curiosity last week detected surprisingly high levels of the gas methane at Gale Crater:...

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity imaged these drifting clouds on May 7, 2019. These are likely water-ice clouds about 19 miles (31 km) above the surface. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

‘Meteoric Smoke’ May Play Key Role in Formation of High-Altitude Clouds on Mars

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

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...

Scholz’s star flew through the Oort Cloud 70,000 years ago. Image credit: José A. Peñas / SINC.

Did Nearby Supernovae Induce Hominins to Walk on Two Legs?

May 30, 2019 by News Staff

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...

Voyager 2 image of Triton showing the south polar region with dark streaks produced by geysers visible on the icy surface. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

Astronomers Find Exotic Ices on Neptune’s Moon Triton

May 24, 2019 by News Staff

In the lab, scientists have pinpointed a specific wavelength of infrared light absorbed when molecules of carbon monoxide and nitrogen join together and...

This image of Jupiter was taken on February 12, 2019, as Juno performed its 18th close flyby of the planet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill.

Jupiter’s Winds Interact with Its Magnetic Field, Scientists Say

May 22, 2019 by News Staff

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: Researchers Identify Mechanisms that Cause Rare Atmospheric Phenomenon

Apr 29, 2019 by News Staff

STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is a thin ribbon of pinkish-red or mauve-colored light stretching from east to west, farther south...

This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14. Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colors, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Pluto’s Atmosphere Predicted to Collapse by 2030

Apr 25, 2019 by News Staff

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 fireball. Image credit: NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance / Sci-News.com.

Meteor of Interstellar Origin May Have Slammed into Earth in 2014

Apr 18, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

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...

This infrared image was recorded by Subaru Telescope’s COMICS instrument. Sinclair et al used red, blue and yellow to infuse this image; regions of the atmosphere that are more yellow and red indicate the hotter areas. This highlights the auroral heating that occurs at Jupiter’s poles, where energy from the solar wind and magnetosphere are deposited. This image was captured on January 12, 2017. Image credit: NAOJ / NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Subaru Telescope Finds Evidence of Auroral Heating at Jupiter’s Poles

Apr 15, 2019 by News Staff

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...

Colorful clouds formed by the release of vapors from the two AZURE rockets allow scientists to measure auroral winds. Image credit: Lee Wingfield / NASA.

NASA Launches Two Sounding Rockets to Study Auroral Winds: AZURE Mission

Apr 9, 2019 by News Staff

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...

Methane on Mars: New Discovery or Just Lot of Hot Air?

Apr 3, 2019 by The Conversation

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...

This artist’s impression shows HR 8799e. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

GRAVITY Reveals Details of Storm-Wracked HR 8799e using Optical Interferometry

Mar 28, 2019 by News Staff

ESO’s GRAVITY instrument, a second generation imaging instrument installed on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, has made the first direct observation...

The extent of Earth’s geocorona. Image credit: ESA.

Earth’s Hydrogen Geocorona Extends Well Beyond Moon

Feb 22, 2019 by News Staff

Recent observations from the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) show that the Earth’s hydrogen envelope reaches up to 391,500 miles...

An artist’s impression of the InSight lander on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Mars Weather: Daily Reports from NASA’s InSight Lander

Feb 20, 2019 by News Staff

Beginning Tuesday, February 19, 2019, NASA’s InSight lander will provide a daily report of atmospheric weather conditions on Mars. This tool, developed...

Airplanes wring extra snow and rain out of clouds. Image credit: Michael Bryant-Mode.

Study: Airplanes Flying Over Rain, Snow Can Intensify Precipitation by 10-Fold

Feb 4, 2019 by News Staff

By analyzing several years of weather radar observations in Finland, a research team led by University of Helsinki scientists has discovered that planes...

An artist’s concept of a dust storm on Titan. Image credit: NASA / ESA / IPGP / Labex UnivEarthS / University Paris Diderot.

‘Cooking’ of Ancient Organics Created Titan’s Mysterious Atmosphere

Jan 24, 2019 by News Staff

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...

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