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Planetary Sciences news
Making sense of Mars' tiny moon Phobos
Mars' innermost moon, Phobos, has long puzzled planetary scientists, who have continually debated whether it's a captured asteroid or formed from debris after a giant impactor struck the Martian surface. The key to solving ...
Planetary Sciences
1 hour ago
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How solar wind forecasting will help define heliosphere's boundaries
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are using a solar wind forecasting method combined with analytic and numerical heliosphere models to find out where the first plasma boundary of the outer heliosphere lies as ...
Planetary Sciences
2 hours ago
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Astronomers want to build a swarm of telescopes to find life
Current plans for flagship telescopes in the 2040s are focused on answering a simple question: Are we alone? Our best telescopes to date, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), have given us only tantalizing glimpses ...
Planetary Sciences
5 hours ago
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Titan and Pluto exhibit the same mysterious spectral feature—and researchers can't figure out its origin
Researchers are constantly sifting through new spectral data gathered by powerful telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Most of the time, when they identify spectral features—specific absorption or emission ...
Third known interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS may be billions of years older than the solar system, study finds
An interstellar comet that blazed past the sun last year could be nearly three times older than our solar system and is unlike anything ever seen before in our cosmic backyard, astronomers said Monday.
Planetary Sciences
9 hours ago
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Mars-like conditions fail to kill some Earth pathogens, experiments suggest
Microorganisms from our planet could survive on celestial bodies where water is present, such as Mars. That is the conclusion of Ph.D. candidate Tommaso Zaccaria after experiments with simulated space conditions. Our immune ...
Astrobiology
Jun 21, 2026
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Well-known planetary nebula's ear-like lobes rewrite its evolutionary timeline
Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) and the Manchester Echelle Spectrograph (MES), astronomers from Turkey and Mexico have investigated a planetary nebula discovered two centuries ago, known as NGC 6563. Results ...
Sonic booms from meteors can release the energy of hundreds of tons of TNT. Here's how they work
As humans, we live out our lives on a planet that is constantly sweeping through a cosmic ocean littered with ancient debris from the formation of the solar system. For the most part, our world glides silently through space, ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 20, 2026
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Radio scans find no alien tech from the latest interstellar comet
The group leading the charge in the search for extraterrestrial life has given the all clear: An interstellar comet looks to be completely natural and free of any alien tech.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 20, 2026
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The Sun may not engulf Earth after all, scientists say
Need some good news on a Friday after a long week? The Earth may not be engulfed by the expanding fireball of the dying sun, which has long been assumed to be our home planet's ultimate fate, according to scientists.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 19, 2026
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Desert field test with NASA advanced rover prototype
A prototype four-wheel rover developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory with advanced mobility and robotic autonomy capabilities trundled across the Colorado Desert near Plaster City, California, during a field test in ...
Space Exploration
Jun 19, 2026
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NASA mission to study space weather impacts of Earth's atmosphere
NASA selected a mission concept to research how space weather and dynamics within Earth's atmosphere influence the space environment and help improve prediction capabilities for impacts on crucial technology, such as GPS ...
Space Exploration
Jun 19, 2026
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Energetic neutral atoms may help map Uranus's odd magnetic environment
Sending a spacecraft to the underexplored planet Uranus is at the top of many planetary scientists' wish lists. But which spacecraft-mounted instruments would be most useful for answering questions about the mysterious ice ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 18, 2026
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Asteroid Donaldjohanson wobbles as it rotates, Lucy flyby reveals
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists studying the inner main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson have found that its rotation wobbles. Rather than rolling through space in a steady pattern, Donaldjohanson turns on two ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 18, 2026
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How a telescope's mirror stability makes or breaks exoplanet detection
Finding life beyond our solar system is a major goal of modern astronomy. NASA's planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) aims to take direct images of Earth-sized planets around stars other than our sun. This task, however, ...
Astronomy
Jun 18, 2026
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Mars life search gets boost as rover test distinguishes mirrored biosignature molecules
Billions of years ago, environmental conditions on Mars were significantly more hospitable than they are today. Our neighboring planet was likely warm, humid and surrounded by a dense atmosphere. Whether simple microorganisms ...
Astrobiology
Jun 18, 2026
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Hidden electric space waves are quietly cleaning Earth's 'killer' electrons
High above our heads, a silent battle is unfolding within Earth's magnetic shield. For decades, scientists have tracked "killer electrons"—ultrafast particles capable of piercing satellite armor and endangering astronauts ...
Famous 'Pink Planet' harbors a salty surprise
Northwestern University-led astronomers have discovered salty skies surrounding the universe's famous "Pink Planet." For more than a decade, the ancient, rosy-hazed world kept astronomers guessing. One of the coldest known ...
Astronomy
Jun 18, 2026
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Lava planet has hydrogen-rich, active atmosphere
It's 2158, and you're chugging away on your Ph.D. in planetary volcanology from the University of Utopia Planitia on Mars. Graduate students still get paid a sub-living wage, so you've been stuck eating freeze-dried ramen ...
Astrobiology
Jun 17, 2026
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LOFAR reveals spike-like repeating radio burst pairs in the solar corona
The solar atmosphere is a turbulent and magnetized environment, with the release of magnetic energy readily manifesting as emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Solar radio emission dominates the radio sky, with the ...
Astronomy
Jun 17, 2026
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More news
Dozens of active dust devils caught swirling across Mars canyon system
Could Earth have sent life to Jupiter's moon Europa?
Future Martian colonists will need a new relativistic clock
New study assesses Titan's resources and their potential uses
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Earth's energy imbalance has doubled—here's why that matters
A meteorite impact may have once rained gold on Western Australia
Cats age like humans—could studying their brains reveal healthy aging secrets?
How AI-generated cartoons reshaped Taiwan's 2024 protests
