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Planetary Sciences news
Here's your 2025 guide to the night sky and other celestial wow moments
The new year will bring a pair of lunar eclipses, but don't expect any sun-disappearing acts like the one that mesmerized North America last spring.
Planetary Sciences
21 hours ago
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NASA's micro-mission Lunar Trailblazer will make macro-measurements of the lunar surface in 2025
NASA's upcoming Artemis II mission is slated to return astronauts to the moon no sooner than April 2026. Astronauts were last on the moon in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.
Space Exploration
Dec 31, 2024
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The future lifespan of plants just got extended
For now, the future of life on Earth is in human hands. But after the anthropocentric era, the situation starts to get dicey. The sun's luminosity is increasing over time, about 1% every 110 million years, so the Earth's ...
Northern lights could be visible in upper fringes of the US this New Year's Eve
There's a chance solar storms may bring northern lights to several northern U.S states just in time for the new year.
Planetary Sciences
Dec 30, 2024
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe sets new record for sun proximity
Operations teams have confirmed NASA's mission to "touch" the sun survived its record-breaking closest approach to the solar surface on Dec. 24, 2024.
Space Exploration
Dec 28, 2024
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe survives close brush with the sun's scorching surface
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has successfully made the closest approach to the sun, the space agency confirmed Friday.
Space Exploration
Dec 27, 2024
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Two populations of dark comets in the solar system could tell researchers where the Earth got its oceans
The water that makes up the oceans acted as a key ingredient for the development of life on Earth. However, scientists still do not know where the water here on Earth came from in the first place.
Planetary Sciences
Dec 25, 2024
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Image: NASA's Terra satellite captures 2015 eclipse shadow
During the morning of March 20, 2015, a total solar eclipse was visible from parts of Europe, and a partial solar eclipse from northern Africa and northern Asia. NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Arctic Ocean on March ...
Space Exploration
Dec 25, 2024
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NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the sun
NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history Tuesday, flying closer to the sun than any other spacecraft, with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures topping 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius).
Space Exploration
Dec 24, 2024
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NASA solar probe to make its closest ever pass of sun
NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe is poised to make its closest-ever approach of the sun on Christmas Eve, a record-setting 3.8 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) from the surface.
Space Exploration
Dec 23, 2024
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Two Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting nearby star detected
An international team of astronomers has reported the discovery of two exoplanets orbiting a nearby star known as HD 101581. The newfound alien worlds are slightly smaller than Earth and orbit its host very closely. The discovery ...
Where's the most promising place to find Martian life?
New research suggests that our best hopes for finding existing life on Mars isn't on the surface, but buried deep within the crust.
Astrobiology
Dec 23, 2024
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NASA is developing solutions for lunar housekeeping's biggest problem: Dust
Through the Artemis Program, NASA will send the first astronauts to the moon since the Apollo Era before 2030. They will be joined by multiple space agencies, such as the ESA and China, who plan to send astronauts (and "taikonauts") ...
Space Exploration
Dec 23, 2024
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe aims to fly closer to the sun like never before
A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before.
Space Exploration
Dec 22, 2024
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NASA cameras to capture interaction between Blue Ghost lander, moon's surface
Say cheese again, moon. We're coming in for another close-up.
Space Exploration
Dec 21, 2024
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The moon might be older than scientists previously thought; a new study shines light on its history
A physicist, a chemist and a mathematician walk into a bar. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but in my case, it was the start of an idea that could reshape how scientists think about the history of the moon.
Planetary Sciences
Dec 21, 2024
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Lab work digs into gullies seen on giant asteroid Vesta by NASA's Dawn
Pocked with craters, the surfaces of many celestial bodies in our solar system provide clear evidence of a 4.6-billion-year battering by meteoroids and other space debris. But on some worlds, including the giant asteroid ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 21, 2024
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Avalanches, icy explosions and dunes: NASA is tracking New Year on Mars
Instead of a winter wonderland, the Red Planet's northern hemisphere goes through an active—even explosive—spring thaw. While New Year's Eve is around the corner here on Earth, Mars scientists are ahead of the game: The ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 20, 2024
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Chang'e-6 farside basalts reveal a reinforced lunar dynamo
The evolution of the lunar dynamo is crucial for understanding the moon's deep interior structure, thermal history, and surface environment. A study by Chinese scientists conducted paleomagnetic analyses on basalts returned ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 20, 2024
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Ancient Mars' thick crust could have supported hidden water reservoirs and rare magmas, new research suggests
A new study explores how variations in Mars' crustal thickness during its ancient history may have influenced the planet's magmatic evolution and hydrological systems. The research, published in Earth and Planetary Science ...
Astrobiology
Dec 19, 2024
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More news
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NASA payload aims to probe moon's depths to study heat flow
New radar algorithm reveals hidden dance of ionospheric plasma
Young exoplanet's atmosphere unexpectedly differs from its birthplace
Citizen scientists help map geomagnetic superstorm's ionospheric impact
The winter solstice is almost here, the Northern Hemisphere's darkest day
Building concrete on Mars from local materials
Jovian vortex hunters contribute to storm study
Mars orbiter spots retired InSight lander to study dust movement
Other news
Study traces Ebola's route to the skin surface
Revealing a key mechanism of rapid centromere evolution
Researchers develop 'family tree' system to auto-detect new variants of infectious diseases
Introducing HORNET, a novel RNA structure visualization method that correlates sequence and 3D topology
New dinosaur, Archaeocursor asiaticus, hints at early Gondwana to Laurasia migration
DAVINCI mission's many 'firsts' aim to unlock Venus's hidden secrets
Could planets orbiting two stars have moons?
No shallow magma ocean for Jupiter's moon Io, research suggests
Early Earth's oceans of magma may have accelerated the moon's departure
Human settlement of Mars isn't as far off as you might think
Could the ESA's PLATO mission find Earth 2.0?
Warm Saturn-sized exoplanet discovered with TESS
Foreign DNA 'sneaks' past bacterial defenses, aiding antibiotic resistance
