Impact cratering is the process by which hypervelocity collisions of extraterrestrial bodies (e.g., asteroids, comets, meteoroids) with a planetary surface excavate material and form characteristic circular depressions. It involves three main stages: contact and compression, where shock waves propagate and generate extreme pressures and temperatures; excavation, during which target material is displaced outward and upward, forming a transient cavity and ejecta; and modification, where gravitational collapse and rock rheology reshape the transient cavity into a final crater morphology. Impact cratering is a fundamental geologic process that influences crustal structure, surface evolution, and volatile redistribution on solid bodies throughout the Solar System.
Traveling up from the Mars equator toward its north pole, we find Coloe Fossae: a set of intriguing scratches within a region marked by deep valleys, speckled craters, and signs of an ancient ice age.
Planetary Sciences
Nov 12, 2025
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When a meteoroid shook the edge of Apollinaris Mons on Mars, it triggered streaks that carved a hundred new scratches on the surface. The European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured these dust avalanches on ...
Planetary Sciences
Nov 7, 2025
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121
Every year, the Taurid meteor shower lights up the night sky from late October through early November. Sometimes called the "Halloween fireballs," they are named for the constellation Taurus—the bull—from which the meteors ...
Astronomy
Oct 30, 2025
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152
In the beginning, Earth was a violent place with no atmosphere to soften the blow.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 28, 2025
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46
When astronauts land near the moon's south pole as part of NASA's Artemis program in a few years, they likely will find themselves in an unexpected treasure trove of clues that could help scientists better understand how ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 8, 2025
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84
A decades-long scientific debate over the origins of the Silverpit Crater in the southern North Sea has been resolved. New evidence confirms that it was caused by an asteroid or comet impact about 43–46 million years ago.
Planetary Sciences
Sep 22, 2025
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313
Asteroid 2024 YR4 caused quite a stir last year when it was discovered and originally calculated to have a 3% chance of hitting Earth. Since then models have been refined and while it no longer has a chance of hitting Earth, ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 22, 2025
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355
Buried deep in Greenland's ice sheet lies a puzzling chemical signature that has sparked intense scientific debate. A sharp spike in platinum concentrations, discovered in an ice core (a cylinder of ice drilled out of ice ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 19, 2025
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162
Some asteroids are more dangerous than others, according to a report published in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Auriane Egal of the Montreal Planetarium in Canada. The team ...
Astronomy
Sep 17, 2025
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96
Throughout the planet, there are only a handful of known tektite strewn fields, which are large swaths of land where natural glass (tektite) was strewn about after forming from terrestrial material and being ejected from ...
