Tag Archive for 'Planet'

The young Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 m deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 km. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

Martian Climate Fluctuated between Drier and Wetter Periods Before It Went Dry

Apr 19, 2021 by News Staff

Mars had drier and wetter eras before drying up completely in the Hesperian period, about 3 billion years ago, according to an analysis of observational...

These SEM images show cosmic spherules and unmelted micrometeorites from the CONCORDIA collection, from left to right, top to bottom: glassy cosmic spherule, stony cosmic spherule, partially melted micrometeorite, unmelted fine-grained micrometeorite. Image credit: Rojas et al., doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116794.

Study: 5,200 Tons of Extraterrestrial Dust Reach Earth’s Surface Each Year

Apr 13, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a new paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, an international team of researchers presents the results from a long-term...

This image was taken by the WATSON camera on the robotic arm of Perseverance on April 6, 2021 (46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Snaps Selfie with Ingenuity Helicopter

Apr 8, 2021 by News Staff

Perseverance took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here 4 m (13 feet) away in this image from April 6, 2021. This image was taken by the WATSON...

It’s raining on Titan. Image credit: David A. Hardy, AstroArt / NASA.

Raindrops are Remarkably Similar across Different Planetary Atmospheres, Study Says

Apr 6, 2021 by News Staff

A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets is a first step toward a generalized theory of how precipitation and condensible...

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

NASA’s InSight Lander Detects Two Strong, Clear Marsquakes

Apr 2, 2021 by News Staff

On March 7 and 18, 2021, NASA’s InSight lander detected 3.3- and 3.1-magnitude marsquakes originating in a location called Cerberus Fossae, further supporting...

This composite image shows a Chandra X-ray image of Uranus from 2002 (pink) superimposed on an optical image from the Keck-I Telescope obtained in 2004. Image credit: NASA / CXO / University College London / Dunn et al.

Chandra Detects X-Ray Emission from Uranus

Apr 1, 2021 by News Staff

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, and its ring system appear to mainly produce X-ray emission by scattering solar X-rays, but some may also come...

Visible images with sketch maps showing major geologic features within as-yet unnamed crater mapped by Boatwright & Head: (a) the 54-km-diameter crater in the southern highlands of Mars (20.3°S, 42.6°E); no inlet or outlet breaches are observed; ridge networks (blue) begin near the crater wall base, where they are coincident with upslope-facing scarps (dashed lines) and crater wall alcoves; ridges terminate in two paleolake basins (cyan and green); (b) morphology of the eastern ridge network transitions downslope from dense proximal ridges to more widely spaced medial ridges; several medial ridges then converge into a single trunk ridge; (c) the southern ridge network terminates at three separate points along the margin of basin II. One of the ridges also displays an anabranching morphology. Image credit: Boatwright & Head, doi: 10.3847/PSJ/abe773.

New Type of Paleolake Spotted on Mars

Mar 31, 2021 by News Staff

A 54-km- (33.5-mile) diameter Noachian-aged crater with neither inlet nor outlet channels is distinct from previously documented crater basin lakes on...

Hue et al. discovered faint aurora features likely triggered by charged particles coming from the edge of Jupiter’s massive magnetosphere; this occurrence, shown in the false color series of images recorded 30 seconds apart (red panels), displays the characteristically ring-like emissions, expanding rapidly over time. Image credit: NASA / SWRI / JPL-Caltech / V. Hue / G.R. Gladstone / B. Bonfond.

Juno Spots Faint Auroral Rings on Jupiter

Mar 30, 2021 by News Staff

Planetary scientists using data from the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft have discovered expanding emission circles of ultraviolet...

This image shows an artist’s impression of winds in Jupiter’s stratosphere near the planet’s south pole, with the blue lines representing wind speeds; these lines are superimposed on a real image of Jupiter, taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada / NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

ALMA Detects Strong Winds in Stratosphere of Jupiter

Mar 25, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed incredibly powerful winds — with speeds of up to 1,450 kmh...

Hubble images of Saturn taken in 2018, 2019, and 2020 as the planet’s northern hemisphere summer transitions to fall. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / A. Simon / R. Roth.

Hubble Sees Midsummer Atmospheric Changes in Northern Hemisphere of Saturn

Mar 19, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observed Saturn, the second largest planet in our Solar System, in 2018, 2019, and 2020, just after...

Hernández-Bernal et al. reveal the daily and seasonal behavior of the AMEC cloud, using new observations from the Visual Monitoring Camera on ESA’s Mars Express, along with data from other Mars orbiters. Image credit: ESA.

Martian Orbiters Observe Extremely Elongated Cloud over Arsia Mons Volcano

Mar 19, 2021 by News Staff

In September and October 2018, ESA’s Mars Express orbiter observed a spectacular water ice cloud — named the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC)...

An illustration of early Earth, as it would have looked around 4 billion years ago. Image credit: Lucy Entwisle.

Lightning Strikes Played Role in Creating Prebiotic Phosphorus on Early Earth, Study Suggests

Mar 18, 2021 by News Staff

Phosphorus is one of the key elements for life, involved in biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, phospholipids, and adenosine triphosphate. Phosphide minerals...

This illustration depicts ultraviolet polar aurorae on Jupiter and Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / UVS / STScI / MODIS / WIC / IMAGE / University of Liège.

Jupiter’s Dawn Storms are Remarkably Similar to Earth’s Auroral Substorms

Mar 18, 2021 by News Staff

Dawn storms consist of short-lived but intense brightening and broadening of Jupiter’s main auroral oval near where the atmosphere emerges from darkness...

The map of Tharsis region of Mars from the Pocket Atlas of Mars 36. Image credit: NASA / JPL / GSFC / ESA / DLR / FU / H. Hargitai.

Planetary Scientists Create Pocket Atlas of Mars

Mar 17, 2021 by News Staff

The 84-page atlas of Mars, currently available in English, Hungarian and Czech, was developed as a part of a public outreach project supported by the Europlanet...

Computer model of the Antikythera Mechanism’s display: in the center, the dome of the Earth, the phase of the Moon and its position in the Zodiac -- then rings for Mercury, Venus, true Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Date, with ‘little sphere’ markers and smaller markers for oppositions. Scale marks and index letters for the synodic cycles of the planets are inscribed on the planet rings. Surrounding these, the Zodiac and the Egyptian Calendar. The true Sun ring has a ‘little golden sphere’ with ‘pointer.’ When the Moon and Sun pointers coincide, the Moon sphere shows black for New Moon; when the pointers are on opposite sides, the Moon sphere shows white for Full Moon. The Head of the Dragon Hand shows the ascending lunar node; the Tail the descending node. Small triangles on the true Sun ring, near the pointer, show wider and narrower eclipse limits. Eclipses are possible if the Dragon Hand is within these limits. When the Moon pointer is before the Head of the Dragon, the Moon is South of the node; after, it is North of the node -- conversely for the descending node. A Date pointer is attached to a narrow date ring, showing the date in the Egyptian Calendar. Image credit: Freeth et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w.

Scientists Step Closer to Understanding Full Capabilities of Antikythera Mechanism

Mar 15, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from University College London and the Cyprus Institute’s Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center has...

This mosaic (upper right) shows a close-up view of the rock target named ‘Yeehgo’ from the SuperCam instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars. The component images were taken by SuperCam’s Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) on March 7, 2021. To be compatible with the rover’s software, ‘Yeehgo’ is an alternative spelling of ‘Yéigo,’ the Navajo word for diligent. The target is 3.325 m (10.9 feet) from the rover. Each of the two images in the mosaic shows a field of view 6.2 cm (2.5 inches) in diameter. Perseverance’s Navigation Cameras (Nav Cam) and Mastcam-Z instrument also took images of that area at the same time to provide multiple views of the rock target. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / LANL / CNES / CNRS / ASU / MSSS.

Perseverance Records Sound of Its Rock-Zapping Laser Instrument

Mar 12, 2021 by News Staff

Early data from the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover — including the first audio of laser zaps on another planet — are...

The inner core of our planet has an inner core of its own, with crystals aligned in a different direction. Image credit: Lachina Publishing Services.

Geoscientists Confirm Existence of Earth’s Innermost Inner Core

Mar 8, 2021 by News Staff

Earth’s inner core has an inner core of its own and its distinct properties may point to a dramatic event in the history of our planet, according to...

This image was captured while Perseverance drove on Mars for the first time on March 4, 2021. One of Perseverance’s Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) captured this image as the rover completed a short traverse and turn from its landing site in Jezero Crater. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Perseverance Successfully Performs Its First Drive on Mars

Mar 8, 2021 by News Staff

On March 4, 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover covered 6.5 m (21.3 feet) across the Martian landscape. This image was captured while Perseverance drove...

Global distribution of production rates of radiolytic hydrogen and radiolytic oxidants in marine sediment; rates are expressed in mol electron equivalents/cm2/year; in electron equivalents, water radiolysis produces hydrogen and oxidized chemicals at equal rates; although abyssal clay has a volumetric radiolytic production rate an order of magnitude higher than the volumetric rate for continental-margin sediment types, the sediment layer that blankets open-ocean regions is much thinner and consequently has much lower vertically integrated radiolytic production than the sediment of continental margins. Image credit: Sauvage et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21218-z.

Subseafloor Microbial Communities Survive on Products of Radioactive Process, Study Suggests

Mar 3, 2021 by News Staff

Radionuclides are ubiquitous in sediment and rock, where their decay leads to the production of hydrogen and oxidized chemicals via radiolysis of water;...

Researchers Observe ‘Space Hurricane’ in Earth’s Ionosphere

Mar 2, 2021 by News Staff

Hurricanes in the Earth’s low atmosphere are well known; however, disturbances resembling hurricanes had never before been detected in the upper atmosphere. An...

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