Two research teams, using data from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, have recently published results suggesting that what were thought to be subsurface lakes on Mars may not really be lakes at all.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 3, 2021
1
1064
A new study disputes the prevailing hypothesis on why Mercury has a big core relative to its mantle (the layer between a planet's core and crust). For decades, scientists argued that hit-and-run collisions with other bodies ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 2, 2021
74
1329
An earlier discovery of liquid water lakes beneath Mars' south pole may not be as wet as believed, a new paper says.
Space Exploration
Jun 29, 2021
1
174
A study measuring water concentration in Venus's atmosphere concluded Monday that life as we know it is not possible among the sulphuric acid droplets that make up the planet's famously cloudy skies.
Astronomy
Jun 28, 2021
6
391
A new analysis of Venus' surface shows evidence of tectonic motion in the form of crustal blocks that have jostled against each other like broken chunks of pack ice. The movement of these blocks could indicate that Venus ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 21, 2021
24
259
Brown dwarfs are the cosmic equivalent of tweeners. They're too massive to be planets and too small to sustain nuclear fusion in their cores, which powers stars. Many brown dwarfs are nomadic. They do not orbit stars but ...
Astronomy
Jun 10, 2021
1
646
Researchers from Penn's Department of Physics and Astronomy have developed a new method for better understanding the relationship between a star's chemical composition and planet formation. The study was led by recent graduate ...
Astronomy
Jun 10, 2021
1
2683
The widely studied metallic asteroid known as 16 Psyche was long thought to be the exposed iron core of a small planet that failed to form during the earliest days of the solar system. But new University of Arizona-led research ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 9, 2021
23
5351
Nearly 40 years ago, scientists first predicted the existence of helium rain inside planets composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter and Saturn. However, achieving the experimental conditions necessary to ...
Planetary Sciences
May 27, 2021
0
327
A NASA team has found that organic salts are likely present on Mars. Like shards of ancient pottery, these salts are the chemical remnants of organic compounds, such as those previously detected by NASA's Curiosity rover. ...
Space Exploration
May 21, 2021
2
335
