Meteorites are solid extraterrestrial materials that survive passage through a planetary atmosphere and reach the surface, providing direct samples of Solar System bodies for scientific investigation. As a research topic, they are categorized into stony, iron, and stony-iron types, with further subdivision into chondrites and achondrites based on texture and degree of differentiation. Meteorites preserve information on early Solar System processes, including nebular condensation, accretion, thermal metamorphism, and core–mantle differentiation. Their isotopic, mineralogical, and chemical compositions constrain models of planetesimal formation, planetary evolution, chronology via radiometric dating, and the distribution of volatiles and organic compounds in the protoplanetary disk.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover recently took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls Lac de Charmes. Assembled from 61 individual images, the selfie shows ...
Planetary Sciences
May 12, 2026
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For decades, the search for life beyond Earth has revolved around a key question: What molecules should scientists be looking for on other planets or moons? A new study, published in Nature Astronomy, suggests that the more ...
Astronomy
May 11, 2026
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24
NASA's Curiosity rover has identified seven new organic compounds on the planet Mars, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
Astrobiology
Apr 23, 2026
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54
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has uncovered a diverse mix of organic molecules on Mars, including chemicals widely considered building blocks for the origin of life on Earth.
Astrobiology
Apr 21, 2026
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549
The possibility of life on other planets is one of the biggest mysteries in science. But what would happen if we actually found it? Our scientists are preparing for this possibility by helping to develop a new system that ...
Astrobiology
Apr 20, 2026
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53
Mercury is a small, rocky planet about which researchers know relatively little. Two missions, taking readings as they passed over the planet, have revealed that Mercury is covered by an iron-poor and sulfur-rich crust. It ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 19, 2026
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The IBeA group of the EHU-University of the Basque Country is proposing new measures to safeguard the purity of extraterrestrial samples. Several contaminants, including traces of ink, originating in the preparation of subsamples, ...
Astrobiology
Apr 14, 2026
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396
Japan's space agency, JAXA, has been knocking it out of the park with small-body exploration missions for decades. They had historic successes with both Hayabusa and Hayabusa2, and they are going to visit the Martian moons ...
Space Exploration
Apr 12, 2026
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42
Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were "delivered" to Earth and the moon during the early stages of the solar system via asteroids and comets impacting their surfaces. These ...
Astrobiology
Apr 10, 2026
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31
Geoscientists have long relied on different forms of lead to understand Earth's geological history and how it was created over billions of years. However, there is a mystery that has been puzzling scientists for decades: ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 10, 2026
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