Image: XMM-Newton and Hubble view of Jupiter's ghost

Names of astronomical objects are often ambiguous, especially when the historical designation of a certain class of celestial body preceded their physical understanding and was based on their appearance in the sky.

NASA image: Saturn's upper cloud layers

(Phys.org) —What the viewer might perceive to be Saturn's surface is really just the tops of its uppermost cloud layers. Everything we see is the result of fluid dynamics. Astronomers study Saturn's cloud dynamics in part ...

US plans to answer the lure of Europa

To planetary scientists Jupiter's icy moon Europa is a Siren, calling out to them across the solar system. With its youthful surface, abundance of water and the tantalising evidence of a moon-wide ocean – it is one of ...

Where did all the xenon go?

(Phys.org) —The noble gas xenon should be found in terrestrial and Martian atmospheres, but researchers have had a hard time finding it.

Gravity measurements confirm subsurface ocean on Enceladus

In 2005, NASA's Cassini spacecraft sent pictures back to Earth depicting an icy Saturnian moon spewing water vapor and ice from fractures, known as "tiger stripes," in its frozen surface. It was big news that tiny Enceladus—a ...

Comet ISON and Mars imaged together during close approach

Comet ISON made its closest approach to Mars yesterday (October 1, 2013) at a distance of 10.5 million km (6.5 million miles). While we await to find out if attempts to image the comet by spacecraft on the surface (update: ...

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