Solar system terrestrial planets as a research area focuses on the comparative study of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars to understand the formation, differentiation, and evolution of rocky planets. It integrates planetary geology, geophysics, geochemistry, atmospheric science, and orbital dynamics to investigate crust–mantle–core structures, volcanic and tectonic processes, surface–atmosphere interactions, and volatile and climate histories. The field relies heavily on spacecraft missions, remote sensing, in situ measurements, laboratory analyses of analog materials, and numerical modeling to constrain accretion processes, interior dynamics, habitability conditions, and the broader context of terrestrial exoplanets.
From its perch on the western wall of Mars' Jezero Crater, NASA's Perseverance rover recently spied a "googly eye" peering down from space. The pupil in this celestial gaze is the Martian moon Phobos, and the iris is our ...
Astronomy
Oct 31, 2024
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Evidence suggests Mars could very well have been teeming with life billions of years ago. Now cold, dry, and stripped of what was once a potentially protective magnetic field, the red planet is a kind of forensic scene for ...
Astrobiology
Oct 29, 2024
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Moons are the norm in our solar system. The International Astronomical Union recognizes 288 planetary moons, and more are being discovered. Saturn has a whopping 146 moons. Every planet except Mercury and Venus has moons, ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 28, 2024
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The source of Earth's water is an enduring mystery that extends to exoplanets and the notion of habitability. In broad terms, Earth's water was either part of the planet from the beginning of its formation in the solar nebula ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 25, 2024
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Due to launch in the early 2030s, NASA's DAVINCI mission will investigate whether Venus—a sweltering world wrapped in an atmosphere of noxious gases—once had oceans and continents like Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 17, 2024
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49
Venus is often described as a hellscape. The surface temperature breaches the melting point of lead, and though its atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide, it contains enough sulfuric acid to satisfy the comparison with ...
Astrobiology
Sep 27, 2024
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103
Mars wasn't always the cold desert we see today. There's increasing evidence that water once flowed on the red planet's surface, billions of years ago. And if there was water, there must also have been a thick atmosphere ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 25, 2024
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