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Planetary Sciences news
Astrophysicists predict origins of unexpected space objects in solar system and Alpha Centauri
Interstellar material has been discovered in our solar system, but researchers continue to hunt for where it came from and how it got here. A new study led by Western astrophysicists Cole Gregg and Paul Wiegert recommends ...
Planetary Sciences
8 hours ago
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New Mars life detection method strengthens sample return safety protocols
Within the next decade, space agencies plan to bring samples of rock from Mars to Earth for study. Of concern is the possibility these samples contain life, which could have unforeseen consequences. Therefore, researchers ...
Astrobiology
11 hours ago
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More potential locations for ice on the Moon discovered
Ice may be present a few centimeters below the moon's surface in more areas of the lunar polar regions than was previously thought due to large, yet highly localized, variations in surface temperatures. The results, published ...
Space Exploration
11 hours ago
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World's oldest meteorite impact crater found, rewriting Earth's ancient history
Curtin University researchers have discovered the world's oldest known meteorite impact crater, which could significantly redefine our understanding of the origins of life and how our planet was shaped.
Planetary Sciences
12 hours ago
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In contrast to Earth, Mars's middle atmosphere appears driven by gravity waves
A new study by researchers including those at the University of Tokyo revealed that atmospheric gravity waves play a crucial role in driving latitudinal air currents on Mars, particularly at high altitudes.
Planetary Sciences
13 hours ago
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Astronomer finds gas giant exoplanets formed earlier than previously thought
A fresh look at past data reveals that exoplanets with masses similar to Jupiter formed much sooner than previously thought, according to new research. The Ohio State University study's results provide new information about ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 5, 2025
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NASA powers down two Voyager science instruments to extend mission life
Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California turned off the cosmic ray subsystem experiment aboard Voyager 1 on Feb. 25 and will shut off Voyager 2's low-energy charged particle instrument ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 5, 2025
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90
Lunar sample research could help protect astronauts and uncover origins of water on the moon
Dust and rocks residing on the surface of the moon take a beating in space. Without a protective magnetosphere and atmosphere like Earth's, the lunar surface faces continual particle bombardment from solar wind, cosmic rays, ...
Space Exploration
Mar 5, 2025
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Eccentricities of orbits point to significantly different upbringings for small and large planets
The shape of a planet's orbit is one of its fundamental properties, along with its size and distance from its host star. Earth has a nearly circular orbit, but some planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets, have ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 5, 2025
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Discovery of potential exoplanet companion to hot Jupiter TOI-2818b offers clues to planet formation
Scientists from UNSW Sydney have located a potential new exoplanet—a planet that orbits a star outside of our solar system—using a technique known as "transit timing variation."
Planetary Sciences
Mar 5, 2025
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Sharper image: Optics instrument reveals pictures of 'baby planets'
With a sun more than 4.5 billion years old, our solar system is considered "middle-aged," and the pictures of what it might have looked like in its infancy are lost to time. Taking advantage of a sophisticated adaptive optics ...
Astronomy
Mar 5, 2025
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Unburied treasure: Rover researchers find unexpected minerals on Mars that hint at possibility of ancient life
Sometimes scientists must dig and work and sweat to make scientific discoveries. And sometimes a robot rolls over a rock that turns out to be a revelation.
Astrobiology
Mar 5, 2025
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Can surface fractures on Earth, Mars, and Europa predict habitability on other planets?
When a mudflat crumbles on Earth, or an ice sheet splinters on one of Jupiter's moons (Europa), or an ancient lakebed breaks on Mars, do these fractures follow a hidden geometric script? Could similar patterns on another ...
Astrobiology
Mar 5, 2025
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Webb reveals planet-forming disks can last longer than previously thought
If there were such a thing as a photo album of the universe, it might include snapshots of pancake-like disks of gas and dust, swirling around newly formed stars across the Milky Way. Known as planet-forming disks, they are ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 4, 2025
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X-ray signal from Helix Nebula points to planet destroyed by white dwarf
After tracking a puzzling X-ray signal from a dying star for decades, astronomers may have finally explained its source: The old star might have destroyed a nearby planet.
Astronomy
Mar 4, 2025
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Hubble finds Kuiper belt duo may be trio
The puzzle of predicting how three gravitationally bound bodies move in space has challenged mathematicians for centuries, and has most recently been popularized in the novel and television show "3 Body Problem." There's ...
Astronomy
Mar 4, 2025
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Space capsule entering Earth's atmosphere detected with distributed acoustic sensing
On December 3, 2018, NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) successfully rendezvoused with the near-earth asteroid (NEA) 101955 Bennu. Over the next two ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 3, 2025
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Webb exposes complex atmosphere of starless super-Jupiter
An international team of researchers has discovered that previously observed variations in brightness of a free-floating planetary-mass object known as SIMP 0136 must be the result of a complex combination of atmospheric ...
Astrobiology
Mar 3, 2025
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Can the world relax about killer asteroids now?
For a brief window, Asteroid 2024 YR4 looked like a planetary hazard in the making. At up to 90 meters (295 feet) in diameter, it was described as a potential "city killer." On its estimated trajectory, it could've collided ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 3, 2025
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A new study reveals the structure of violent winds 1,300 light years away
The planet WASP-121b is extreme. It's a gas giant almost twice as big as Jupiter orbiting extremely close to its star–50 times closer than the Earth does around the sun. WASP-121b is so close to its star that tidal forces ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 1, 2025
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More news
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How to see rare 'planetary parade' in the sky tonight
Mars's northern ice cap is surprisingly young, planetary scientists find
NASA installs heat shield on first private spacecraft bound for Venus
Mars's core evolution: Lab experiments hint at solid inner core formation
Adsorptive regolith on Mars soaks up water, updated model shows
Six things to know about NASA's Lunar Trailblazer
Every planet of our solar system is lining up in the February night sky
Have we been wrong about why Mars is red?
Chance asteroid 2024 YR4 will hit Earth down to 0.001 percent, ESA says
Other news
Private lunar lander touches down on the moon, but its status is unknown
Bacterial 'jumping genes' can target and control chromosome ends
Scientists have discovered a 3-billion-year-old beach buried on Mars
NASA's EZIE is launching to study magnetic fingerprints of Earth's aurora
Jupiter-like exoplanet orbiting nearby star detected
Ancient beaches testify to long-ago ocean on Mars
Lunar Trailblazer blasts off to map water on the moon
European rocket successfully carries out first commercial mission
Salt-based catalysts enable selective production of mirror-image molecules
Laser light made into a supersolid for the first time
