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Planetary Sciences news
Image: Hubble reveals Jupiter in ultraviolet light
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the planet Jupiter in a color composite of ultraviolet wavelengths. Released on Nov. 3, 2023, in honor of Jupiter reaching opposition, which occurs when the planet and the sun ...
Astronomy
10 hours ago
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How to glimpse a parade of planets in the January night sky
Six planets grace the sky this month in what's known as a planetary parade, and most can be seen with the naked eye.
Planetary Sciences
10 hours ago
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Mars's two distinct hemispheres caused by mantle convection not giant impacts, study claims
Mars has northern and southern hemispheres like Earth, but their defining characteristics are markedly different, a phenomenon known as Martian dichotomy. The Southern Highlands are older, higher in elevation and more cratered ...
Mars's rare disappearing solar wind event explained
Mars's atmosphere and climate are impacted by interactions with solar wind, a stream of plasma comprised of protons and electrons that flows from the sun's outermost atmosphere (corona), traveling at speeds of 400–1,000 ...
Exoplanets around red dwarfs face extreme space weather, Chandra finds
Planets around other stars need to be prepared for extreme weather conditions, according to a new study from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's (European Space Agency's) XMM-Newton that examined the effects of X-rays ...
Astrobiology
19 hours ago
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Astrophysicists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars
Astrophysicists led by a team from Trinity College Dublin have—for the first time—imaged a large number of exocomet belts around nearby stars, and the tiny pebbles within them. The crystal-clear images show light being ...
Astronomy
19 hours ago
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Is the moon a chunk ejected from Earth? Study sheds light on moon formation, origin of water on Earth
A research team from the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) has discovered another piece in the puzzle of the formation of the moon and water on Earth. The prevailing theory ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 16, 2025
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Double the disks, double the discovery: New insights into planet formation in DF Tau
Tucked away in a star-forming region in the Taurus constellation, a pair of circling stars are displaying some unexpected differences in the circumstellar disks of dust and gas that surround them. A new study led by researchers ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 16, 2025
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NASA's Pandora mission one step closer to probing alien atmospheres
Pandora, NASA's newest exoplanet mission, is one step closer to launch with the completion of the spacecraft bus, which provides the structure, power and other systems that will allow the mission to carry out its work. Pandora's ...
Space Exploration
Jan 16, 2025
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Earth's temporary moon might have come from the moon
A tiny asteroid loitering in a near-Earth orbit for a few months last year may have an intriguing origin on our moon. Its characteristics led scientists to ask: is it a chip off the old lunar block, making a pass by Earth ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 15, 2025
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Signatures of ice-free ancient ponds and lakes found on Mars
Researchers have discovered two sets of ancient wave ripples on Mars, signatures of long-dried bodies of water preserved in the rock record. Wave ripples are small undulations in the sandy shores of lakebeds, created as wind-driven ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 15, 2025
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Proba-3 becomes two: Satellites successfully separate
Last night, a crucial step in the European Space Agency's eclipse-making Proba-3 mission was completed: the two spacecraft, flying jointly since launch, have successfully separated. This leaves them ready to begin their cosmic ...
Space Exploration
Jan 15, 2025
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IRIDE pathfinder satellite has launched
The first IRIDE satellite—the Pathfinder Hawk—is now in orbit around Earth after lifting off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on 14 January.
Planetary Sciences
Jan 15, 2025
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Super-Earth vs. sub-Neptune? The winner is super-Venus as Webb confirms a new type of planet
New observational data from the James Webb Space Telescope and simulation models have confirmed a new type of planet unlike anything found in the solar system. This provides another piece of the puzzle describing how planets ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 15, 2025
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Not all Hot Jupiters orbit solo, observations suggest
Hot Jupiters are giant planets initially known to orbit alone close to their star. During their migration towards their star, these planets were thought to accrete or eject any other planets present. However, this paradigm ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 15, 2025
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Image: Earth in far-ultraviolet
On April 21, 1972, NASA astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 mission, took a far-ultraviolet photo of Earth with an ultraviolet camera. Young's original black-and-white picture was printed on Agfacontour professional ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 14, 2025
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Astronomers discover a new dense sub-Saturn exoplanet
An international team of astronomers has reported the detection of a new exoplanet orbiting a bright late F-type star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-6038 A b, is about six times larger and nearly 80 times more ...
Planets can form in even the harshest conditions
According to the most widely held astronomical model (the nebular hypothesis), new stars are born from massive clouds of dust and gas (aka a nebula) that experience gravitational collapse. The remaining dust and gas form ...
Astronomy
Jan 13, 2025
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Exploring an alternate solar system: Research maps impact of 'super-Earth'
Emily Simpson has loved space since she was a 10-year-old kid celebrating her birthday at a planetarium. Now a recent Florida Tech graduate, she leaves with not only a dual degree in planetary science and astronomy and astrophysics ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 13, 2025
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Could we detect advanced civilizations by their industrial pollution? Probably not
The hunt for aliens goes hand in hand with the hunt for habitable planets. Astronomers are on the hunt for exoplanets with atmospheric chemicals that could be a sign of an advanced civilization. These chemicals, known as ...
Astrobiology
Jan 13, 2025
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NASA lander to test vacuum cleaner on moon for sample collection
NASA proposes cheaper, quicker way to get Mars rocks and soil to Earth
How the US–Indian NISAR satellite will offer unique window on Earth
NASA's LEXI will provide X-ray vision of Earth's magnetosphere
Using an oil industry framework to map space resources
HYPSO-2 satellite monitors harmful algae from space
A new mission watches meteoroids hit the far side of the moon
NASA anticipates lunar findings from next-generation retroreflector
Here's your 2025 guide to the night sky and other celestial wow moments
The future lifespan of plants just got extended
NASA's Parker Solar Probe sets new record for sun proximity
SpaceX catches Starship booster again, but upper stage explodes
Machinery behind bacterial nanowires discovered
Climate change driving 'cost-of-living' squeeze in lizards
