https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A University of Iowa-led research team has reported in a new study the most detailed observations to date of the bow shock at Jupiter, our solar system's gas giant. The findings from NASA's Juno mission reveal key differences between Jupiter's bow shock and Earth's. They also may lead to a better understanding of the physics of how shocks function in even more powerful energy releases, such as those from dying stars. The research is published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-jupiter-complex-fend-particles-sun.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:40:05 EDT news709219322 Jupiter hosts more than 100 moons, with most attention focused on the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. This is primarily due to their active geology, including Io being the most volcanically active planetary body in the solar system and Europa having a vast subsurface liquid-water ocean beneath its icy crust. However, Jupiter's smaller, lesser-known moons could provide astronomers with key insights into the history of the solar system because they have remained largely unchanged, unlike the Galilean moons. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-esa-juice-probe-dark-jovian.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:40:05 EDT news707400639 Every year, thousands of satellites are launched into orbit around our planet. The result is an increasingly congested "space" above Earth populated by equipment that provides services to the surface. At the same time, these satellites affect ground-based astronomy and create the potential for damage when they eventually fall through Earth's atmosphere to the surface. In addition, near-Earth space hosts old rocket bodies and other materials (cameras, gloves, etc.) left in orbit by past missions. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tracking-satellites-space-debris-radio.html Space Exploration Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:20:04 EDT news704622625 Have you ever been out at night and seen a streak of light blast across the sky and disappear? Ever wonder where that shooting star came from, or how it got to be in your sky? https://phys.org/news/2026-06-asteroid-comet-meteor-meteorite-streaking.html Astronomy Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:40:05 EDT news700833900 Our solar system has two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, but there may have been a third. According to a new study published in the journal Icarus, this extra world might have triggered a violent planetary shuffling billions of years ago that could have disrupted some of Jupiter's and Uranus's moons and possibly led to the formation of others. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-planets-solar.html Astronomy Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:00:05 EDT news699524109 Observations conducted with the Subaru Telescope and its first-generation wide-field camera, Suprime-Cam, have revealed new insights into the relationship between the color and size of Jupiter Trojan asteroids. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-subaru-telescope-jupiter-trojan-asteroids.html Astronomy Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:40:03 EDT news695045701 The European Space Agency's (ESA's) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) probe is on its (very long) way to Jupiter, and will finally arrive at the King of Planets in 2031. Its primary mission is to focus on the "big three" icy moons—Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. But while JUICE is busy mapping Ganymede's magnetic field, it will also be keeping a sharp eye on the other 94 moons in the Jupiter system. A recent paper published in Space Science Reviews by Tilmann Denk of DLR, Germany's space research association, and his co-authors showcases just how much "bonus science" JUICE is expected to squeeze out of these other targets. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-juice-science-jupiter-minor-moons.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:40:06 EDT news693141721 Southwest Research Institute was part of an international team that demonstrated how complex organic molecules (COMs), key chemical precursors to life, could have been incorporated into Jupiter's Galilean moons during their formation. The team's findings have resulted in complementary studies published in The Planetary Science Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, offering new insights into the potential for life in the Jovian system. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-jupiter-galilean-moons-gained-life.html Astrobiology Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:20:01 EST news691079941 New observations of Ganymede reveal a striking similarity between the auroras on the largest moon in the solar system and those on Earth. The international team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from the University of Liège, has produced new results indicating that, despite different conditions, the fundamental physical processes that generate auroras are common to different celestial bodies, and not just planets. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-auroras-ganymede-earth-similarities.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:20:01 EST news691073641 Models help scientists understand everything from the particles that make up the universe to massive superstructures of galaxies at the beginning of time. But sometimes they model more mundane, though perhaps even more complex, features—including the course of human civilization. A new paper by Thomas Leppard of the International Archaeological Research Institute and his co-authors, all of whom are also archaeologists, proposes applying a model of how humans expanded to the different islands across the Pacific Ocean during their early migration to glean insights into how humanity should manage our colonization of space. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-archaeologist-colonizing-worlds.html Space Exploration Mon, 10 Nov 2025 12:55:04 EST news682001702 Trapped in a gravitational push and pull between Jupiter and other Jovian moons, Io is constantly being stretched and compressed. Heat generated by these contortions has melted pockets of the moon's interior so much that Io is our solar system's most volcanically active body. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-webb-telescope-spies-io-volcanic.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 04 Nov 2025 12:38:02 EST news681482281 The Three-Body Problem isn't just the name of a viral Netflix series or a Hugo Award-winning sci-fi book. It also represents a real problem in astrodynamics—and one that can cause headaches for mission planners in terms of its complexity, but also one that offers the promise of an easier way to enter stable orbits that might otherwise be possible. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-moon-flybys-fuel-interplanetary-missions.html Space Exploration Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:43:04 EDT news674836982 We already know a decent amount about how planets form, but moon formation is another process entirely, and one we're not as familiar with. Scientists think they understand how the most important moon in our solar system (our own) formed, but its violent birth is not the norm, and can't explain larger moon systems like the Galilean moons around Jupiter. A new book chapter, also released as a preprint paper on arXiv, by Yuhito Shibaike and Yann Alibert from the University of Bern, discusses the differing ideas surrounding the formation of large moon systems, especially the Galileans, and how we might someday be able to differentiate them. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-jupiter-galilean-moons-scientists-explore.html Astrobiology Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:47:16 EDT news674732835 The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered its first exoplanet, astronomers said Wednesday, capturing rare direct images of the relatively small world in Earth's galactic backyard. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-webb-telescope-captures-image-exoplanet.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 25 Jun 2025 15:28:13 EDT news670059422 People always want to know what will happen to Earth when the sun eventually swells up as a red giant. For one thing, the expanding sun will turn the inner planets into cinders. It will almost certainly spell the end of life on our planet. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-europa-habitable-world-sun-red.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 28 May 2025 09:20:05 EDT news667642802 Analyzing gravity data collected by spacecraft orbiting other worlds reveals groundbreaking insights about planetary structures without having to land on the surface. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-reveal-hidden-secrets-interiors-moon.html Astronomy Wed, 14 May 2025 13:20:01 EDT news666447010 New data from the agency's Jovian orbiter sheds light on the fierce winds and cyclones of the gas giant's northern reaches and volcanic action on its fiery moon. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-juno-mission-jupiter-io-surface.html Space Exploration Tue, 29 Apr 2025 16:11:16 EDT news665161869 Data received from NASA's Juno mission indicates the solar-powered spacecraft went into safe mode twice on April 4 while the spacecraft was flying by Jupiter. Safe mode is a precautionary status that a spacecraft enters when it detects an anomaly. Nonessential functions are suspended, and the spacecraft focuses on essential tasks like communication and power management. Upon entering safe mode, Juno's science instruments were powered down, as designed, for the remainder of the flyby. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-nasa-juno-safe-mode.html Space Exploration Thu, 10 Apr 2025 10:55:03 EDT news663501302 Israeli astronomers report the detection of a new Jupiter-like exoplanet using the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS). The newfound alien world orbits a nearby M-dwarf star designated GJ 2126. The discovery was announced in a research paper published Feb. 16 on the arXiv pre-print server. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-jupiter-exoplanet-orbiting-nearby-star.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 24 Feb 2025 09:42:03 EST news659612521 A pair of astrophysicists with Aix- Marseille Université, CNRS, and Institut Universitaire de France have developed a new theory about the formation of Jupiter's largest moons. In their paper published in The Planetary Science Journal, Antoine Schneeberger and Olivier Mousis describe how they used a variety of factors to simulate the early years of Jupiter and the formation of some of its moons. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-astrophysicists-outer-disk-regions-jupiter.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:10:11 EST news658580822 Even by the standards of Io, the most volcanic celestial body in the solar system, recent events observed on the Jovian moon are extreme. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-juno-mission-powerful-volcanic-io.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 28 Jan 2025 12:00:04 EST news657288001 Jumping Jupiter! The results are in, storm chasers! Thanks to your help over the last two years, the Jovian Vortex Hunter project has published a catalog of 7,222 vortices, which you can download. Each vortex is an enormous swirling windstorm in Jupiter's atmosphere–terrifying yet beautiful to behold. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-jovian-vortex-hunters-contribute-storm.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 17 Dec 2024 12:23:22 EST news653660599 Astronomers from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) in Australia and elsewhere have reinvestigated a planetary system known as HD 28185, known to contain a gaseous giant exoplanet and an outer companion, believed to be a brown dwarf. They found that the supposed brown dwarf is a massive super-Jovian planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-hd-brown-dwarf-massive-planet.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 28 Oct 2024 10:10:06 EDT news649328235 Astronomers have observed Jupiter's legendary Great Red Spot (GRS), an anticyclone large enough to swallow Earth, for at least 150 years. But there are always new surprises—especially when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope takes a close-up look at it. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-jupiter-great-red-unexpected-size.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:26:56 EDT news647710010 As European Space Agency (ESA)'s Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft hurtled past the moon and Earth in mid-August to provide its first gravity assist maneuver to the Jovian system, the Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) instrument imaged the UV emissions radiating from the Earth and moon. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-instrument-aboard-jupiter-bound-spacecraft.html Space Exploration Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:55:02 EDT news647697295 From Aug. 19–20, ESA's (European Space Agency's) Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission made history with a daring lunar-Earth flyby and double gravity assist maneuver, a spaceflight first. As the spacecraft zipped past our moon and home planet, Juice's instruments came online for a dry run of what they'll do when they reach Jupiter. During that time, two of NASA's onboard instruments added another first to the list: capturing the sharpest-ever image of Earth's radiation belts—swaths of charged particles trapped in Earth's magnetic shield, or magnetosphere. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nasa-instruments-capture-sharpest-image.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:23:03 EDT news647014981 Although most potentially habitable worlds orbit red dwarf stars, we know larger and brighter stars can harbor life. One yellow dwarf star, for example, is known to have a planet teaming with life, perhaps even intelligent life. But how large and bright can a star be and still have an inhabited world? That is the question addressed in a recent article in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-stars-hotter-sun-life.html Astrobiology Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:13:03 EDT news646312381 By staring into the hellish landscape of Jupiter's moon Io—the most volcanically active location in the solar system—Cornell astronomers have been able to study a fundamental process in planetary formation and evolution: tidal heating. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-volcanoes-reveal-interior-jupiter-moon.html Astrobiology Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:28:03 EDT news645967681 Jupiter's striking appearance comes from its stormy atmosphere. Swirling clouds surround the gas giant, and their distribution reflects the planet's weather. Scientists have used professional observatories such as the Very Large Telescope in Chile (whose construction in the 1990s cost more than 330 million euro, or US$366 million) and spacecraft such as the Juno orbiter (part of a US$1.13 billion mission) to study Jupiter's meteorology, but they lack some ongoing monitoring abilities. Amateur astronomers have filled in part of this gap by monitoring visible clouds and wind. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-amateur-astronomers-aid-jupiter-weather.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:39:29 EDT news644773164 Thanks to NASA's Juno mission to the Jupiter system, we're getting our best looks ever at the gas giant's volcanic moon Io. Even as Juno provides our best views of the moon, it also deepens our existing questions. Only a dedicated mission to Io can answer those questions, and there are two proposed missions. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-nasa-missions-jupiter-moon-io.html Space Exploration Fri, 23 Aug 2024 11:40:04 EDT news643632001