News tagged with planetary science
Human hands leave prominent ecological footprints
Early human activity has left a greater footprint on today's ecosystem than previously thought, say researchers working at the University of Pittsburgh and in the multidisciplinary Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network, ...
Jun 01, 2012 |
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Greenland's current loss of ice mass
The Greenland ice sheet continues to lose mass and thus contributes at about 0.7 millimeters per year to the currently observed sea level change of about 3 mm per year. This trend increases each year by a further 0.07 millimeters ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 29, 2012 |
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Toxic mercury, accumulating in the Arctic, springs from a hidden source
(Phys.org) -- Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a toxic element, is caused by both atmospheric forces and the flow of circumpolar rivers that carry ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 21, 2012 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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Free-floating planets in the Milky Way outnumber stars by factors of thousands
A few hundred thousand billion free-floating life-bearing Earth-sized planets may exist in the space between stars in the Milky Way. So argues an international team of scientists led by Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, Director ...
May 10, 2012 |
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Geologists map prehistoric climate changes in Canada's Yukon Territory
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have joined an international group of scientists to study past climate changes in the Arctic. Comprising geologists from Pitt's Department of Geology and Planetary Science, the ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 08, 2012 |
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Beaming up on the way to space
(Phys.org) -- Space may be the final frontier. But often a few trips to PML are necessary before things can get off the ground. One recent case in point is the test of an instrument called the Extreme Ultraviolet ...
May 07, 2012 |
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Fertilizer use responsible for increase in nitrous oxide in atmosphere
University of California, Berkeley, chemists have found a smoking gun proving that increased fertilizer use over the past 50 years is responsible for a dramatic rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide, which is a major greenhouse ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 02, 2012 |
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Scientists find slow subsidence of Earth's crust beneath the Mississippi delta
The Earth's crust beneath the Mississippi Delta sinks at a much slower rate than what had been assumed.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 02, 2012 |
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Organic compounds found in proto-planetary disks
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study from scientists in the US has reported that organic compounds could be formed in proto-planetary disks, and could have seeded the development of life in our own and other planetary ...
Mar 30, 2012 |
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'Mount Sharp' on Mars links geology's past and future
(PhysOrg.com) -- One particular mountain on Mars, bigger than Colorado's grandest, has been beckoning would-be explorers since it was first sighted from orbit in the 1970s. Scientists have ideas about how ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 29, 2012 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
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Is it snowing microbes on Enceladus?
There's a tiny moon orbiting beyond Saturn's rings that's full of promise, and maybe -- just maybe -- microbes.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (12) |
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International drilling expedition to probe Japanese fault zone
(PhysOrg.com) -- The scientific drilling ship Chikyu will set sail on April 1 on an ambitious expedition to drill into the fault that caused the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. Emily ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 27, 2012 |
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Probe mission to explore Titan's miniscule rainfall proposed
(PhysOrg.com) -- Dr. Ralph Lorenz of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) outside of Baltimore has given a talk at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Texas outlining what has ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 23, 2012 |
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Seismic survey at the Mariana trench will follow water dragged down into the Earth's mantle
(PhysOrg.com) -- Last month, Doug Wiens, PhD, professor of earth and planetary science at Washington University in St. Louis, was cruising the tropical waters of the western Pacific above the Mariana trench ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 22, 2012 |
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Scientists use rare mineral to correlate past climate events in Europe, Antarctica
The first day of spring brought record high temperatures across the northern part of the United States, while much of the Southwest was digging out from a record-breaking spring snowstorm. The weather, it seems, has gone ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 21, 2012 |
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Planetary science
Planetary science is the scientific study of planets, moons, and planetary systems, in particular those of the Solar System. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. It is a strongly interdisciplinary field, originally growing from astronomy and earth science, but which now incorporates many disciplines, including planetary astronomy, planetary geology (together with geochemistry, geophysics and geomorphology as applied to planets), atmospheric science, theoretical planetary science, and the study of extrasolar planets. Allied disciplines include space physics, when concerned with the effects of the Sun on the bodies of the Solar System, and astrobiology.
There are interrelated observational and theoretical branches of planetary science. Observational research can involve a combination of space exploration, predominantly with robotic spacecraft missions using remote sensing, and comparative, experimental work in Earth-based laboratories. The theoretical component involves considerable computer simulation and mathematical modelling.
Planetary scientists are generally located in the astronomy and physics or earth sciences departments of universities or research centres, though there are several purely planetary science institutes worldwide. There are several major conferences each year, and a wide range of peer-reviewed journals.
For more information about Planetary science, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
