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Planetary Sciences news
The dirty afterlife of a dead satellite
Sometimes we humans get ahead of ourselves. We embark on grand engineering experiments without really understanding what the long-term implications of such projects are. Climate change itself is a perfect example of that—no ...
Space Exploration
3 hours ago
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When Earth's magnetic field took its time flipping
Earth's magnetic field is generated by the churn of its liquid nickel-iron outer core, but it is not a constant feature. Every so often, the magnetic north and south poles swap places in what are called geomagnetic reversals, ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 5, 2026
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A new comet was just discovered. Will it be visible in broad daylight?
A newly discovered comet has astronomers excited, with the potential to be a spectacular sight in early April. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was spotted by a team of four amateur astronomers with a remotely operated telescope in the Atacama ...
Astronomy
Feb 5, 2026
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Red giant stars can't destroy all gas giants—some are hardy survivors
Aging stars can completely destroy their planets. When a star reaches the end of its life on the main sequence, it goes through dramatic changes. And those changes don't just dictate the star's fate; they can also dictate ...
Astronomy
Feb 4, 2026
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Neutron scans reveal hidden water in famous martian meteorite
New tools unlock new discoveries in science. So when a new type of non-destructive technology becomes widely available, it's inevitable that planetary scientists will get their hands on it to test it on some meteorites. A ...
Astrobiology
Feb 4, 2026
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An unusual dust storm on Mars reveals how the red planet lost some of its water
The current image of Mars as an arid and hostile desert contrasts sharply with the history revealed by its surface. Channels, minerals altered by water, and other geological traces indicate that the red planet was, in its ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 4, 2026
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Reading the moon's diary, one speck of dust at a time
Magnetism on the moon has always been a bit confusing. Remote sensing probes have noted there is some magnetic signature, but far from the strong cocoon that surrounds Earth itself. Previous attempts to detect it in returned ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 3, 2026
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One-of-a-kind 'plasma tunnel' recreates extreme conditions spacecraft face upon reentry
Picture a spacecraft returning to Earth after a long journey. The vehicle slams into the planet's atmosphere at roughly 17,000 miles per hour. A shockwave erupts. Molecules in the air are ripped apart, forming a plasma—a ...
Space Exploration
Feb 3, 2026
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Two huge hot blobs of rock influence Earth's magnetic field, study reveals
Exploring Earth's deep interior is a far bigger challenge than exploring the solar system. While we have traveled 25 billion km into space, the deepest we have ever gone below our feet is just over 12 km. Consequently, little ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 3, 2026
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Perseverance rover completes first AI-planned drive on Mars
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has completed the first drives on another world that were planned by artificial intelligence. Executed on Dec. 8 and 10, and led by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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As Rubin's survey gets underway, simulations suggest it could find about six lunar-origin asteroids per year
Most near-Earth asteroids are thought to drift in from the main asteroid belt. But a small subset may have a much closer origin: the moon. One intriguing example is 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), an Earth quasi-satellite ...
Astronomy
Feb 2, 2026
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Jupiter's slimmer profile: Giant planet revealed to be narrower at equator
For over 50 years, we thought we knew the size and shape of Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet. Now, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have revised that knowledge using new data and technology. In a new study ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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Long-period Jupiter-like exoplanet discovered with TESS
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new extrasolar planet transiting a distant star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-6692 b, is the size ...
Experiments clear up confusion over the form of solid methane
Through a combination of high-pressure experiments and optical spectroscopy, physicists have revealed new insights into the structural forms of solid methane. Led by Mengnan Wang at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, ...
Cracks on Europa sport traces of ammonia
The search for life-supporting worlds in the solar system includes the Jovian moon Europa. Yes, it's an iceberg of a world, but underneath its frozen exterior lies a deep, salty ocean and a nickel-iron core. It's heated by ...
Astrobiology
Feb 2, 2026
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New 3D map of the sun's magnetic interior could improve predictions of disruptive solar flares
For the first time, scientists have used satellite data to create a 3D map of the sun's interior magnetic field, the fundamental driver of solar activity. The research, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, should ...
Why are Tatooine planets rare? General relativity explains why binary star systems rarely host planets
Astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets around single stars, but few around binary stars—even though both types of stars are equally common. Physicists can now explain the dearth.
Astronomy
Jan 30, 2026
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Exploration of exoplanets: A mathematical solution for investigating their atmospheres
Dr. Leonardos Gkouvelis, researcher at LMU's University Observatory Munich and member of the ORIGINS Excellence Cluster, has solved a fundamental mathematical problem that had obstructed the interpretation of exoplanet atmospheres ...
Astronomy
Jan 30, 2026
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Kissing the sun: Unraveling mysteries of the solar wind
Using data collected by NASA's Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to the sun, a University of Arizona-led research team has measured the dynamics and ever-changing "shell" of hot gas from where the solar wind ...
Space Exploration
Jan 30, 2026
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How brick-building bacteria react to toxic chemical in Martian soil
Bacteria that thrive on Earth may not make it in the alien lands of Mars. A potential deterrent is perchlorate, a toxic chlorine-containing chemical discovered in Martian soil during various space missions.
Astrobiology
Jan 30, 2026
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More news
NASA-ISRO radar mission peers through clouds to see Mississippi River Delta
How tree rings help scientists understand disruptive extreme solar storms
The magnetic 'birdsong' of the smallest planet
NASA's Juno measures thickness of Europa's ice shell
Streaks on Mercury show that it is not a 'dead planet'
The HWO must be picometer perfect to observe Earth 2.0
Europe's next-generation weather satellite sends back first images
Proposed new mission will create artificial solar eclipses in space
Flight engineers give NASA's Dragonfly lift
Moon-based observations capture Earth's 'radiation fingerprint'
Astronomers discover dense super-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star
Rethinking where life could exist beyond Earth
Other news
New CRISPR tool spreads through bacteria to disable antibiotic resistance genes
Watching a critical green-energy catalyst dissolve, atom by atom
AI model that found 370 exoplanets now digs into TESS data
Seismometer networks could track space junk as it falls to Earth
Enceladus plumes may hold a clear clue to ocean habitability
New NASA Artemis payloads to study moon's terrain, radiation, history
SPHEREx imaging reveals increased sublimation activity on 3I/ATLAS
Water makeup of Jupiter's Galilean moons set at birth, new study finds
When silicon fills the role of carbon: Debut of all-silicon cyclopentadienides
Three-component catalyst boosts ammonia from nitrate electrolysis by more than 50%
Measuring time at the quantum level depends on material symmetry
