Tag Archive for 'Solar System'

This composite image of Ultima Thule was compiled from data obtained by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it flew by the object on January 1, 2019. The image combines enhanced color data (close to what the human eye would see) with detailed high-resolution panchromatic pictures. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute / Roman Tkachenko.

Three New Studies Provide More Complete Picture of Physical Nature of Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth

Feb 18, 2020 by News Staff

On January 1, 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) Arrokoth — provisional designation 2014 MU69, previously...

This view of Titan is among the last images NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth before it plunged into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cosmic Rays from beyond Solar System Affect Atmosphere of Titan

Feb 14, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of Japanese researchers has found that Galactic cosmic rays affect the...

This updated version of the iconic ‘Pale Blue Dot’ image taken by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Releases Remastered ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Image

Feb 14, 2020 by News Staff

On February 14, 1990, cameras of NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft pointed back toward the Sun and snapped a series of pictures of the Sun, Earth and other...

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft, shown above the Earth as it faces toward the Sun. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory Celebrates Decade of Watching Sun

Feb 12, 2020 by News Staff

In February 2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is celebrating its 10th year in space. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft,...

An artist’s impression of an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Asteroid Belt Will Be Pulverised by Sun in Six Billion Years, Researchers Predict

Feb 11, 2020 by News Staff

According to new research by University of Warwick and University of Colorado, Boulder scientists, electromagnetic radiation from stars at the end of their...

The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission will face the Sun from within the orbit of Mercury at its closest approach. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

Solar Orbiter: ESA, NASA Successfully Launch New Mission to Study Sun

Feb 10, 2020 by News Staff

Solar Orbiter, a new collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA to study our Sun, launched at 05:03 CET on February 10, 2020...

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 ‘Nitrogen Heart’ Controls Its Atmospheric Circulation: Study

Feb 5, 2020 by News Staff

Pluto’s famous heart-shaped structure, named Tombaugh Regio, controls winds in the atmosphere of the dwarf planet and may give rise to features on its...

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Image credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Observes ‘Solar Energetic Particle’ Events

Feb 4, 2020 by News Staff

New observations from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe show how Sun’s plasma that is released after a solar flare can accelerate and pile up solar energetic...

Graphic illustrating NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft encountering plasma layers at Mars. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / CI lab.

MAVEN Detects Sporadic ‘Layers’ and ‘Rifts’ in Martian Ionosphere

Feb 3, 2020 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft has detected sporadic ‘layers’ and ‘rifts’ in the ionosphere — the electrically...

This image of the Sun’s surface was captured by NSF’s Inouye Solar Telescope. The image, taken at 789 nm, shows features as small as 30 km (18 miles). Image credit: NSO / NSF / AURA.

Inouye Solar Telescope Captures Most Detailed Images Ever Seen of Sun’s Surface

Jan 30, 2020 by News Staff

The high-resolution images from the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, on the summit of Haleakala, Hawai’i, show a close-up...

Curious Marie is a sample of the Allende meteorite, which fell in northern Mexico in February 1969. The white, fuzzy-looking features in this fragment are calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions -- some of the first solids to condense in the Solar System. Image credit: The Planetary Society.

Researchers Find Presolar Grains in Unusual Inclusion from Allende Meteorite

Jan 29, 2020 by News Staff

Scientists from Washington University, St. Louis, Caltech and the University of Chicago have found presolar grains — tiny bits of solid interstellar...

These 2.7 billion-year-old meteorites, about half a millimeter across, fell into the ocean and were collected from the deep sea. Image credit: Donald Brownlee / University of Washington.

Archean Earth’s Atmosphere was Rich in Carbon Dioxide, Researchers Say

Jan 27, 2020 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Washington and NASA’s Ames Research Center has analyzed iron-rich micrometeorites collected from 2.7 billion-year-old...

$Cassini captured this image of Enceladus as it neared the moon for its closest-ever dive past the moon’s active south polar region. The image was taken in visible light with the spacecraft’s narrow-angle camera on October 28, 2015. The image shows heavily cratered northern latitudes at top, transitioning to fractured, wrinkled terrain in the middle and southern latitudes. The wavy boundary of the moon's active south polar region is visible at bottom, where it disappears into wintry darkness. This view looks towards the Saturn-facing side of Enceladus. The image was taken at a distance of approximately 60,000 miles (96,000 km) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 45 degrees. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.$