Many scientists believe the Earth was dry when it first formed, and that the building blocks for life on our planet—carbon, nitrogen and water—appeared only later as a result of collisions with other objects in our solar ...
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2017
6
1175
(Phys.org)—A small team of researchers with members from institutions in France and Japan has found evidence in chondrules that suggest their existence came from collisions between planetesimals in the inner part of the ...
The Kuiper Belt is a massive disk of icy bodies, including Pluto, that is located just outside of Neptune's orbit in our solar system. Objects observed in the Kuiper Belt exhibit a more diversified color range than any other ...
Astronomy
May 31, 2023
0
85
With an eye toward a possible return mission years in the future, Cornell astronomers have shown how smooth terrains—a good place to land a spacecraft and to scoop up samples—evolve on the icy world of comets.
Astronomy
Sep 1, 2022
0
40
While for humans the constants might be death and taxes, for planets the constants are gravity and collisions.
Astronomy
Mar 30, 2022
0
149
Anomalies in the distribution of hydrogen at Occator crater on the dwarf planet Ceres reveal an icy crust, says a new paper led by Tom Prettyman, a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute.
Astronomy
Aug 13, 2021
0
1030
The outermost reaches of our solar system are a strange place—filled with dark and icy bodies with nicknames like Sedna, Biden and The Goblin, each of which span several hundred miles across.
Astronomy
Jul 7, 2020
7
360
Comets are known to have a temper. As they swoop in from the outer edges of our solar system, these icy bodies begin spewing gas and dust as they venture closer to the sun. Their luminous outbursts can result in spectacular ...
Astronomy
Oct 24, 2019
7
1182
Scientists dealt a blow Monday to the quest for organisms inhabiting worlds besides Earth, saying our planet was unusual in its ability to host liquid water—the key ingredient for life.
Astronomy
Jul 31, 2017
30
984
Comets that take more than 200 years to make one revolution around the sun are notoriously difficult to study. Because they spend most of their time far from our area of the solar system, many "long-period comets" will never ...
Space Exploration
Jul 25, 2017
4
167
