Search results for moons

Space Exploration Oct 15, 2015

New Horizons reveals Pluto's striking surface variations and unique moon rotations

University of Maryland astronomers Silvia Protopapa and Douglas Hamilton are among the authors of the first published paper from the New Horizons flyby, which appears in the Oct. 16, 2015 issue of the journal Science. Protopapa ...

Space Exploration Jun 17, 2015

Study shows Moon engulfed in permanent, lopsided dust cloud

The moon is engulfed in a permanent but lopsided dust cloud that increases in density when annual events like the Geminids spew shooting stars, according to a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder.

Space Exploration Jun 3, 2015

Unusual interactions between Pluto's moons

Much ink has been spilled over Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet. And yet, such discussions have not diminished scientific interest in Earth's most distant cousin. A new study is the first to reveal fascinating details ...

Space Exploration Apr 8, 2015

A new view of the Moon's formation: Crucial difference in 'fingerprints' confirms explosive, interconnected past

Within the first 150 million years after our solar system formed, a giant body roughly the size of Mars struck and merged with Earth, blasting a huge cloud of rock and debris into space. This cloud would eventually coalesce ...

Plants & Animals Apr 2, 2015

Plant found to prefer pollination during the full moon

(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers with Stockholm University has discovered a species of Ephedra—a plant that is dependent on the full moon for pollination. In their paper published in The Royal Society Biology Letters, ...

Space Exploration Mar 25, 2015

Apollo-era lunar seismic data yields new lunar core model

(Phys.org)—Like the solar system's telluric planets, including Earth itself, the moon's internal structure is composed of geoochemically distinct mantle, crust and core layers. The core is mostly iron; much of our understanding ...

Space Exploration Dec 4, 2014

Moon's molten, churning core likely once generated a dynamo

When the Apollo astronauts returned to Earth, they brought with them some souvenirs: rocks, pebbles, and dust from the moon's surface. These lunar samples have since been analyzed for clues to the moon's past. One outstanding ...

Space Exploration Oct 1, 2014

Solving the mystery of the 'man in the moon': Volcanic plume, not an asteroid, likely created the moon's largest basin

New data obtained by NASA's GRAIL mission reveals that the Procellarum region on the near side of the moon—a giant basin often referred to as the "man in the moon"—likely arose not from a massive asteroid strike, but ...

Space Exploration Jun 9, 2014

55-year old dark side of the Moon mystery solved

(Phys.org) —The Man in the Moon appeared when meteoroids struck the Earth-facing side of the moon creating large flat seas of basalt that we see as dark areas called maria. But no "face" exists on farside of the moon and ...

Space Exploration May 26, 2014

Lunar rock samples reveal variations in water concentrations

(Phys.org) —A team of researchers studying rocks returned from the moon by Apollo 17 astronauts has found that rocks found in different locations have different amounts of water in them. In their paper published in the ...

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