Tag Archive for 'Solar System'

A broad plume of dust is imaged by Rosetta’s navigation camera on July 10, 2015, which can be traced back to an area on the comet that encompasses the Seth region; the Aswan cliff is included within the marked rectangle. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NavCam / MPS / MPS for OSIRIS Team / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Collapsing Cliff Reveals Pristine Interior of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Mar 22, 2017 by News Staff

In a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers make the first definitive link between an outburst of dust and gas from the nucleus of...

Every discovered planet in the Solar System under 10,000 km in diameter, to scale. The geophysical definition of planet includes 110 known planets. Image credit: Emily Lakdawalla, Planetary Society / K.D. Runyon et al.

Planet Count May Reach 110

Mar 21, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Kirby Runyon, a PhD candidate in planetary geology at the Johns Hopkins University, and co-authors are proposing to rewrite the textbooks to say that the...

This mosaic image taken by the Cassini spacecraft is one of the highest resolution views ever obtained of Mimas. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Icy Moon Mimas Amazes in Final Flyby Photo

Mar 18, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

This mosaic of Mimas, the smallest and innermost of Saturn’s main moons, was constructed from images taken by the narrow-angle camera onboard NASA’s...

$This enhanced-color view of Enceladus is largely of the southern hemisphere and includes the south polar terrain at the bottom of the image. Ancient craters remain somewhat pristine in some locales, but have clearly relaxed in others. Northward-trending fractures, likely caused by a change in the moon’s rate of rotation and the consequent flattening of the moon’s shape, rip across the southern hemisphere. The south polar terrain is marked by a striking set of ‘blue’ fractures and encircled by a conspicuous and continuous chain of folds and ridges, testament to the forces within Enceladus that have yet to be silenced. The mosaic was created from 21 false-color frames taken during Cassini’s close approaches to Enceladus on March 9 and July 14, 2005. Images taken using filters sensitive to UV, visible and IR light (spanning wavelengths from 338 to 930 nm) were combined to create the individual frames. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.$

Cassini Spots Anomalously Warm Subsurface Region on Enceladus

Mar 16, 2017 by News Staff

A new study, based on microwave observations by NASA’s Cassini orbiter, shows that the south polar region of Saturn’s frozen moon Enceladus is warmer...

Cerealia Facula, a bright dome in the center of Occator Crater on the dwarf planet Ceres, is shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI / LPI.

Researchers Determine Age of Ceres’ Brightest Spot

Mar 10, 2017 by News Staff

Cerealia Facula, a dome-like feature located in the center of Ceres’ Occator crater, is only 4 million years old — approximately 30 million years...

Pan: Saturn’s Flying Saucer-Shaped Moon Up Close

Mar 10, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured these stunning images of Pan, the second-innermost moon of Saturn, during a close flyby on March 7, 2017. These images...

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft returned a breathtaking image of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Enceladus. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 4 degrees to the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures Another Stunning View of Saturn’s Frozen Moon Enceladus

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn has captured a breathtaking new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of the gas giant’s moons. NASA’s...

Blue skies on Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

The Secrets of Pluto’s Thin Blue Line

Mar 3, 2017 by James Romero

“Like a summer’s evening here on Earth just after sunset. A faint blue glow follows the Sun below the horizon — the only bit of color within...

This is a three-color composite image of Saturn and its rings taken January 23, 2008 with the COMICS instrument on the Subaru Telescope. The Cassini Division and the C ring appear bright. Color differences reflect the temperatures; the warmer part is blue, the cooler part is red. Image credit: NAOJ.

Researchers Measure Brightness, Temperatures of Saturn’s Main Rings

Mar 2, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using mid-infrared data from the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope, a research team led by Dr. Hideaki Fujiwara, Subaru scientist at the National Astronomical Observatory...

This image of the object F16QA was obtained using Cassini’s narrow-angle camera on Feb. 5, 2017, at a distance of 610,000 miles (982,000 km) from the F ring. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

NASA’s Cassini Orbiter Spots Two Small Objects in Saturn’s F Ring

Feb 28, 2017 by News Staff

As Cassini continues its ring-grazing orbits, diving just past the outside of Saturn’s F ring, the outermost discrete ring of the planet, it is tracking...

Image showing a family tree of stars in the solar neighborhood. Image credit: University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Reconstruct History of Solar Neighborhood with Evolutionary Tree

Feb 21, 2017 by News Staff

A University of Cambridge-led team of astronomers, using chemical elements as a proxy for stellar DNA, has assembled an evolutionary family tree of stars...

A large pit valley in Lucaya crater, Mars: (a) exposure of putative crossbeds on windward slope of dunes, and (b) interdune strata exposed in planform showing contrasting albedo and crosscutting relationships similar to that exposed in the dune. Image credit: M.C. Bourke & H.A. Viles.

Researchers Uncover New Evidence for Water on Ancient Mars

Feb 19, 2017 by News Staff

Dr. Mary Bourke from Trinity College Dublin and University of Oxford Professor Heather Viles have discovered a patch of land in an equatorial crater on...

Artist’s impression of Planet Nine. Image credit: Tom Ruen / ESO.

Backyard Worlds: Join Search for Planet Nine, Nearby Brown Dwarfs

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

A NASA-funded website called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 lets everyone participate in the search for the hypothetical Planet Nine and ‘failed’ stars...

This enhanced color composite image, made with data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows the area around Ernutet crater, which is about 32 miles (52 km) in diameter and is located in the northern hemisphere. The bright red portions appear redder with respect to the rest of Ceres. In the new study, planetary researchers found that these red areas around Ernutet are associated with evidence of organic material. Images taken using blue (440 nm), green (750 nm) and infrared (960 nm) spectral filters were combined to create the view. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Aliphatic Organic Compounds Detected on Ceres

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of planetary researchers has discovered the presence of aliphatic organic compounds — carbon-based building blocks that may...

This composite image showing Jupiter (center) and three of its moons -- Callisto (left), Io, and Ganymede -- was taken by OSIRIS-REx’s PolyCam instrument. Image credit: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona.

OSIRIS-REx Takes Its First Images of Jupiter and Galilean Moons

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

During asteroid search operations, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft snapped several images of Jupiter and its Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. This...

Artist’s concept of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 411b. Image credit: Ricardo Ramirez.

Astronomers Reveal Catalog of Nearby Stars, Detect 114 Potential Exoplanets

Feb 13, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers today released the largest-ever compilation of exoplanet-detecting observations made with a technique called radial velocity. They also demonstrated...

This artist’s rendering illustrates a conceptual design for a potential future mission to land a robotic probe on the surface of Europa. The lander is shown with a sampling arm extended, having previously excavated a small area on the surface. The circular dish on top is a dual-purpose high-gain antenna and camera mast, with stereo imaging cameras mounted on the back of the antenna. Three vertical shapes located around the top center of the lander are attachment points for cables that would lower the rover from a sky crane, which is envisioned as the landing system for this mission concept. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / M. Carroll.

Science Report on NASA’s Europa Lander Concept Released

Feb 10, 2017 by News Staff

In a new report to NASA released this week, a 21-member team of scientists assess the scientific value and engineering design of a future mission to the...

This image of Saturn’s moon Epimetheus was taken on January 30, 2017 and received on Earth February 1, 2017. The image was taken using the CL1 and GRN filters. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI.

Cassini Orbiter Zooms Past Two Saturnian Moons: Epimetheus and Mimas

Feb 10, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter captured these images of Mimas and Epimetheus during a close flyby on January 30, 2017. This image of Saturn’s moon...

This artist’s concept depicts the early Martian environment (right) -- believed to contain liquid water and a thicker atmosphere -- versus the cold, dry environment seen at Mars today (left). Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Did Ancient Martian Volcanism Provide the Sunblock to Get Life Going?

Feb 8, 2017 by James Romero

Intense volcanism early in Mars history could have aided the emergence of life on the red planet through filtering out harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation...

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter obtained this image of Saturn’s moon Enceladus on November 27, 2016. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of the moon. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 6 degrees to the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures Stunning View of Enceladus

Feb 7, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of Saturn’s moons, taken by the agency’s Cassini orbiter. NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter...

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