Tag Archive for 'Planet'

This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows a beautiful slice of the Red Planet from the northern polar cap downwards, and highlights cratered, pockmarked swathes of the Terra Sabaea and Arabia Terra regions. It comprises data gathered on June 17, 2019. This image was created using data from the nadir and color channels of Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera. The nadir channel is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, as if looking straight down at the surface. North is up. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

ESA Releases Mesmerizing New Image of Mars

Sep 23, 2019 by News Staff

The High Resolution Stereo Camera onboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter captured this detailed image of the Red Planet on June 17, 2019. This image from...

Hubble observed Saturn on June 20, 2019 as the planet made its closest approach to Earth this year, at approximately 808 million miles away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / OPAL Team.

Hubble Snaps New Image of Saturn and Its Ring System

Sep 12, 2019 by News Staff

Saturn is so beautiful that astronomers cannot resist using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to take yearly snapshots of the gas giant when it is at...

Scanning electron microscopy image (colorized) showing edscottite in the polished Wedderburn section from the UCLA Meteorite Collection. Image credit: Ma & Rubin, doi: 10.2138/am-2019-7102.

Edscottite: Mineral ‘Never Seen in Nature’ Discovered inside Meteorite

Sep 7, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

A meteorite found in Australia — called the Wedderburn iron meteorite because of where it was found — contains edscottite, an iron-carbide...

A composite image of Venus as seen by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft. Image credit: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Unidentified ‘Absorbers’ Soak Up Solar Energy in Upper Cloud Layer of Venus

Sep 4, 2019 by News Staff

Venus’ surface has never been seen by the human eye because of opaque, highly reflective clouds which permanently cover the planet. What is curious about...

Astronomers Peer Deep into Turbulent Atmosphere of Jupiter

Aug 23, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of astronomers has managed to peer deep into the Jovian atmosphere using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)...

An artist’s impression of a collision between the proto-Jupiter and a massive protoplanet in the early Solar System. Image credit: K. Suda & Y. Akimoto, Mabuchi Design Office / Astrobiology Center, Japan.

Massive Planetary Embryo Crashed into Jupiter 4.5 Billion Years Ago

Aug 15, 2019 by News Staff

An energetic head-on collision between a large planetary embryo and the proto-Jupiter about 4.5 billion years ago could explain puzzling gravitational...

A view of Mars showing the planet’s northern polar ice cap. Image credit: ISRO / ISSDC / Emily Lakdawalla.

New Study Rules Out Wind Erosion of Rocks as Source of Methane on Mars

Aug 14, 2019 by News Staff

A new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has ruled out the possibility that the levels of methane detected in the Martian atmosphere could...

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...

An artist’s impression of a terraformed Mars. Image credit: Daein Ballard / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mars Terraforming: Silica Aerogel Could Warm Widespread Regions of Martian Surface

Jul 16, 2019 by News Staff

New research by scientists from Harvard University, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the UK Centre for Astrobiology shows that widespread regions...

Earth’s internal structure: dense solid metallic core, viscous metallic outer core, mantle and silicate based crust. Image credit: NASA.

Material from Earth’s Core Has Been Leaking into Mantle for Billions of Years

Jul 12, 2019 by The Conversation

Earth’s magnetic field protects and makes our planet habitable by stopping harmful high-energy particles from space, including from the Sun. The source...

A dust storm underway at the edge of the north polar ice cap of Mars. The image was taken by Mars Express’ Visual Monitoring Camera on May 29, 2019. Image credit: ESA / GCP / UPV / EHU Bilbao.

ESA’s Mars Express Spots Dust Storms at Martian North Pole

Jul 8, 2019 by News Staff

ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has observed several local and regional dust storms brewing at the north pole of the Red Planet. A dust storm underway at...

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...

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Cassini Team Delivers New Findings on Saturn’s Ring System

Jun 17, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Although NASA’s Cassini mission ended in 2017, science continues to flow from the data collected. In a series of papers in the journal Science, planetary...

This image shows tri-color crystals of elbaite, a mineral species belonging to the tourmaline group, on quartz. Image credit: Reno Chris.

New Mineral Classification System Proposed

Jun 6, 2019 by News Staff

The modern mineral classification system, developed by the American geologist and mineralogist James Dwight Dana in the 1850s, categorizes more than 5,400...

Planetary Scientists Find Ancient Ice Caps beneath Martian North Pole

May 28, 2019 by News Staff

Planetary researchers using data from the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have discovered rich deposits of water...

The retreat of the Martian polar cap of frozen carbon dioxide during the spring and summer generates winds that drive the largest movements of sand dunes observed on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / USGS.

Martian Sand Dunes Behave Differently than Dunes on Earth: Study

May 27, 2019 by News Staff

According to new research, published in the journal Geology, processes not involved in controlling sand movement on Earth play major roles on the Red Planet,...

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...

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Completes 60,000 Loops around Red Planet

May 16, 2019 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been in the Martian orbit for 13 years, and just completed 60,000 trips around the planet. An artist’s...

NASA’s InSight lander used its IDC camera to record the Martian sunrise on April 24, 2019. This image was taken around 5:30 a.m. Mars local time. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s InSight Lander Sees Stunning Sunrise and Sunset on Mars

May 6, 2019 by News Staff

In April 2019, NASA’s InSight lander used its Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) to capture a series of Martian sunrise and sunset images. NASA’s InSight...

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