Tag Archive for 'Atmosphere'

According to NASA scientists, complex chemical compounds called tholins give Pluto a distinctive blue haze. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Latest New Horizons Image Shows Pluto’s ‘Blue Skies’

Oct 9, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has beamed back the first color image of Pluto’s atmosphere. New Horizons looks toward the night side of Pluto and sees...

This false-color image shows carbon nanofibers. Image credit: Stuart Licht.

Scientists Turn Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide into Nanofibers

Aug 20, 2015 by News Staff

A group of researchers led by Dr Stuart Licht of George Washington University has developed a novel method to economically convert atmospheric carbon dioxide...

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.

Pluto’s Atmospheric Nitrogen Likely Has Internal Origin, Scientists Say

Aug 12, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers at Southwest Research Institute are studying the data collected by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to discover what is pumping up the nitrogen...

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...

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...

Map of MAVEN’s auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on the surface of Mars: the map shows that the aurora was widespread in the northern hemisphere, not tied to any geographic location. Image credit: University of Colorado.

MAVEN Sheds New Light on Atmosphere of Mars

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft has observed three phenomena in the atmosphere of Mars: a polar plume of escaping atmospheric...

Small pollen particles can hold condensation for cloud formation. Image credit: Brin Weins.

Pollen Grains Can Influence Climate, Scientists Say

May 6, 2015 by News Staff

According to a team of researchers led by Prof Allison Steiner of the University of Michigan, tiny pollen particles may make it rain. Small pollen particles...

A hypothetical mini-Neptune. Image credit: DLR Institute of Planetary Research.

Astronomers Discover Brightly Illuminated mini-Neptune

May 4, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers led by Benjamin Montet of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, has discovered a highly irradiated mini-Neptune exoplanet...

Dr Martin Vollmer and his colleagues detected a rapid accumulation of anesthetic gases isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane, in the global atmosphere. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Anesthetic Gases Contribute to Climate Change, Say Atmospheric Chemists

Apr 9, 2015 by News Staff

Desflurane, isoflurane, sevoflurane and halothane – clinically used inhalation anesthetic agents – are accumulating in the atmosphere of our...

Intensification of agriculture is a driver of changes in the seasonal characteristics of the global carbon cycle.

Agricultural Production Affects Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Cycle

Nov 21, 2014 by News Staff

Crop production may generate up to a quarter of the increase in the seasonal cycle of atmospheric carbon dioxide, with corn playing a leading role, according...

GEOS-5 has given researchers a stunning new look at how CO2 in the atmosphere travels around the globe. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center / K. Sharghi.

GEOS-5 Computer Model Provides High-Resolution Look at Key Greenhouse Gas

Nov 19, 2014 by News Staff

A new computer model called GEOS-5 has provided a high-resolution look at how carbon dioxide (CO2) – the key driver of global warming – moves...

This is an artist’s impression of habitable Mars (Daein Ballard / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Volcanic Eruptions May Have Triggered Episodic Water Flow on Ancient Mars

Nov 18, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists from Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and Brown University suggest that water flow and warm temperatures on early Mars were likely related...

Colorized infrared image of Uranus obtained on August 6, 2014, with adaptive optics on the 10-meter Keck telescope; white spots are large storms. Image credit: Imke de Pater, University of California, Berkeley / Keck Observatory images.

Astronomers Spot Large Storms on Uranus

Nov 14, 2014 by News Staff

A team of astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii has detected eight massive storms on the northern hemisphere of Uranus, the seventh planet...

This image is a composite of several images taken during two separate Titan flybys in 2006. The large circular feature near the center of Titan's disk may be the remnant of a very old impact basin. The mountain ranges to the southeast of the circular feature, and the long dark, linear feature to the northwest of the old impact scar may have resulted from tectonic activity on Titan caused by the energy released when the impact occurred. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Astronomers Intrigued by Mysterious Zones of Organic Molecules on Titan

Oct 23, 2014 by News Staff

A multinational team of astronomers studying the chemical make-up of the atmosphere on Saturn’s moon Titan has revealed large zones of two organic...

This artist's conception shows W0855, the coldest known brown dwarf. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Penn State University.

Water Ice Clouds Found in Atmosphere of Brown Dwarf Just 7.2 Light-Years Away

Sep 11, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers led by Dr Jacqueline Faherty from Carnegie Institution of Washington and American Museum of Natural History have discovered evidence of water...

Scientists Discover Four New Ozone-Depleting Gases

Mar 10, 2014 by News Staff

European and Australian researchers have identified three new ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, dubbed CFC-112, CFC-112a, CFC-113a, and one new ozone-depleting...

Barrow, Alaska. Image credit: Bob Johnston / CC BY 2.0.

Scientists Find High Levels of Atmospheric Molecular Chlorine in Alaska

Jan 14, 2014 by News Staff

A large multinational team of researchers has documented very high levels of molecular chlorine – as high as 400 parts per trillion – in the...

This is an artist's impression of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / L. Kreidberg and J. Bean, University of Chicago / H. Knutson, California Institute of Technology.

GJ 1214b, GJ 436b: Astronomers Reveal Weather on Two Exoplanets

Jan 2, 2014 by News Staff

Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have characterized the atmospheres of two nearby exoplanets: the super-Earth GJ 1214b and the Neptune-sized...

Propylene: Ingredient of Household Plastic Detected in Atmosphere of Saturn’s Moon Titan

Oct 2, 2013 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using the Composite InfRared Spectrometer aboard NASA/ESA’s Cassini spacecraft have detected propylene in the lower atmosphere...

Some of the rocks that Dr Crowe and his colleagues studied in South Africa. Image credit: Nic Beukes.

Oxygen Appeared in Earth’s Atmosphere 3 Billion Years Ago

Sep 26, 2013 by Natali Anderson

An analysis of three-billion-year-old soils from South Africa shows that oxygen appeared in the atmosphere more than 600 million years earlier than previously...

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