Tag Archive for 'Ice'

This impressive view of Charon was captured on July 14, 2015. Charon’s color palette is not as diverse as Pluto’s; most striking is the reddish north (top) polar region, informally named Mordor Macula. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Research Sheds Light on Origin of Charon’s Red Polar Cap

Jun 21, 2022 by News Staff

The thin methane atmosphere of Pluto’s biggest moon, Charon, undergoes ‘explosive’ pulsations owing to the Pluto-Charon’s system’s near sideways...

Lake Snow Eagle lies in a canyon in East Antarctica covered by a thick ice sheet. Image credit: University of Texas Institute for Geophysics.

Huge Subglacial Lake Discovered in East Antarctica

May 10, 2022 by News Staff

Named Lake Snow Eagle, the newly-discovered subglacial lake is approximately 42 km in length and 370 km2 in area, making it one of the largest subglacial...

These dark slope streaks resulted from dust avalanches in Acheron Fossae, Mars. The HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured them on December 3, 2006. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

Planetary Scientists Crack Mystery of Martian Dust Avalanches

May 9, 2022 by News Staff

In the 2000s, planetary researchers spotted ghostly, blue-white morning frost on the Martian surface in visible light images from NASA’s Mars Odyssey...

Survey locations on the Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica: electromagnetic imaging stations were set up in two general areas (yellow markings); the researchers traveled to wider areas to perform other tasks, shown by red dots. Image credit: Gustafson et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abm3301.

Vast Saline Groundwater System Discovered Deep Under Antarctic Ice

May 6, 2022 by News Staff

According to new research published in the journal Science, subglacial sediments beneath Whillans Ice Stream in West Antarctica are saturated with a mixture...

This image, taken on December 17, 2012 by ESA’s Mars Express, shows the icy cap that covers Mars’ south pole, composed of frozen water and carbon dioxide. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / Bill Dunford.

Martian Deposits of Carbon Dioxide Ice Flow as Glaciers: Study

May 3, 2022 by News Staff

Carbon dioxide ice is found in a stack of deposits at the south pole of Mars. These deposits are situated in basins, where they reach more than 1 km thick....

This artist’s conception shows how double ridges on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa may form over shallow, refreezing water pockets within the ice shell. Image credit: Justice Blaine Wainwright.

Study: Shallow Liquid Water is Ubiquitous across Ice Shell of Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Apr 20, 2022 by News Staff

Surface landforms called double ridges occur across every sector of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and can be hundreds of kilometers in length. In new research,...

This image shows Utopia Planitia, a plain that fills one of three major basins in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Express Sees Fascinating Ice-Related Features in Utopia Planitia

Mar 31, 2022 by News Staff

Utopia Planitia, a large lava plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars, has a diameter of roughly 3,300 km (2,051 miles) — just under twice the north-south...

The Wright Mons region on Pluto: darker/lower albedo, redder patches exist primarily on north-facing slopes but there are also more subtle differences in albedo and redness across the region; the region labeled A represents a redder unit transition to less red units at lower elevation. The longitude and latitude extents of the image are 160-182°E and 13-31°S. Image credit: Singer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29056-3.

Enormous Cryovolcanoes Spotted on Pluto

Mar 29, 2022 by News Staff

Cryovolcanoes (ice volcanoes) are similar to normal volcanoes but instead of being formed from molten rock, they are made by frozen liquids like ammonia...

Artist’s concept of ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Salt Water within Europa’s Icy Shell Could Be Transporting Oxygen into Its Subsurface Ocean

Mar 24, 2022 by News Staff

Some icy moons in the outer Solar System likely contain an ocean beneath their ice shells. Jupiter’s moon Europa is thought to have an ocean beneath...

Phase diagram of ice: dark blue-, green-, and red-shaded regions denote ice VII, VIIt and X, respectively, and projected phase boundaries separating high-pressure ice phases from our work are shown as solid black lines; ice X phase boundaries connect the measured transition at 30.9 GPa and 300 K to the inflection point in the melt curve, which have been associated with the transition from molecular to ionic fluid; dashed lines show measured melting curves; superionic boundary is highlighted. Image credit: Grande et al., doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.105.104109.

New Form of Ice Discovered: Ice VIIt

Mar 21, 2022 by News Staff

Physicists have observed the transition from a previously known cubic phase, ice VII, to the newly-discovered intermediate, and tetragonal, phase, ice...

Coelho et al. provide a guide for the search for surface life on icy worlds based on biota from Earth’s icy environments. Image credit: Jack Madden.

Astrobiologists Create Catalog of Icy World Surface Biosignatures

Mar 15, 2022 by News Staff

With thousands of discovered exoplanets and new missions that will explore our Solar System, the search for life in the Universe has entered a new era....

This image from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter shows a giant impact crater in Acidalia Planitia on Mars. Image credit: ESA / CaSSIS / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Trace Gas Orbiter Spots ‘Tree Stump’ Crater on Mars

Feb 2, 2022 by News Staff

ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has spotted an ice-rich impact crater in Acidalia Planitia, a Martian plain between the Tharsis volcanic province and Arabia...

Many technologies key to modern society are vulnerable to solar storms. Image credit: National Space Weather Program.

Extreme Solar Storm Hit Our Planet 9,200 Years Ago

Jan 27, 2022 by News Staff

During solar storms, the Sun expels large amounts of energetic particles that can react with the atmosphere of Earth and produce cosmogenic isotopes such...

Mattei et al. studied the antifreeze properties of exotic salts that exist on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / USGS / SwRI.

Brine-Ice Mixtures Exist beneath Martian South Polar Cap: Study

Jan 26, 2022 by News Staff

In 2018, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument onboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter found evidence of liquid...

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 Hosts Global Ocean, New Study Suggests

Jan 20, 2022 by News Staff

Mimas, the smallest and innermost of Saturn’s eight main moons, may be warm enough to harbor a global, liquid water ocean beneath a 24-31-km (15-19-mile)...

Trace Gas Orbiter Finds Water Ice in Martian Polar Crater

Dec 27, 2021 by News Staff

ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter has returned a stunning image of a 4-km- (2.5-mile) wide crater located in Vastitas Borealis, the largest lowland region of Mars. The...

Mars; the center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter Finds Water in Martian Canyon System

Dec 17, 2021 by News Staff

Planetary researchers using the Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND) instrument onboard ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) have found evidence...

Sputnik Planum basin: this scene, which is about 250 miles (400 km) across, uses data from New Horizons’ Ralph/MVIC instrument. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Planetary Scientists Solve Mystery behind Mysterious Polygonal Structures on Pluto

Dec 15, 2021 by News Staff

University of Exeter’s Dr. Adrien Morison and colleagues have shown how vast ice forms have been shaped in Sputnik Planitia, a nitrogen-ice-filled basin...

Tang Dynasty mural commemorating the victory of General Zhang Yichao over the Tibetans in 848 CE, from Mogao cave 156.

Volcanic Eruptions Contributed to Repeated Collapse of Ancient Chinese Dynasties, Says New Study

Nov 12, 2021 by News Staff

One or more volcanic eruptions preceded the majority (62 of 68) of dynastic collapses in China over the past 2,000 years, according to new research led...

Pluto’s haze layer shows its blue color in this picture taken by the New Horizons Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The high-altitude haze is thought to be similar in nature to that seen at Saturn’s moon Titan. The source of both hazes likely involves sunlight-initiated chemical reactions of nitrogen and methane, leading to relatively small, soot-like particles -- called tholins -- that grow as they settle toward the surface. This image was generated by software that combines information from blue, red and near-infrared images to replicate the color a human eye would perceive as closely as possible. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Pluto’s Nitrogen Atmosphere is Condensing as Dwarf Planet Moves Away from Sun

Oct 5, 2021 by News Staff

The surface pressure on the dwarf planet Pluto is decreasing and that its nitrogen atmosphere is condensing, forming ice on the dwarf planet’s surface,...

«‹2 345 6 ›»