Planetary Science

Planetary Science

Giant polygon rock patterns may be buried deep below Mars’ surface

A Chinese rover used radar to reveal long-buried terrain that might hint that Mars’ equator was once much colder and wetter.

Planetary Science

50 years ago, the first probe to visit Mercury launched

In the 1970s, NASA’s Mariner 10 became the first spacecraft to visit Mercury. Only one other probe has made the journey and another one is on its way.

Planetary Science

JWST spotted a new speedy jet stream in Jupiter’s atmosphere

Seen in images from the James Webb Space Telescope, the high-altitude feature may help untangle the inner workings of the giant planet’s atmosphere.

Planetary Science

Marsquakes and meteorite hits show Mars has a dense liquid metal core

Mars’ dense liquid iron core is wrapped in a layer of molten rock, which threw off previous measurements of the Red Planet’s heart.

Planetary Science

Giant planet ‘destabilization’ may have coincided with the birth of Earth’s moon

New meteorite data suggest the orbits of the giant planets abruptly changed about 60 million to 100 million years after the solar system started forming.

Planetary Science

Here’s another strike against Venus having copious lightning

Past data and the Parker Solar Probe’s new discovery of weird whistler waves overturn the idea that Venus’ hellish atmosphere has a lot of lightning.

Planetary Science

In a first, astronomers spot the afterglow of an exoplanet collision

A surge of infrared light from a remote star might have been a glow cast by the vaporized leftovers of an impact between Neptune-sized worlds.

Planetary Science

How drones are helping scientists find meteorites

Searching for fallen space rocks is labor intensive. A team of researchers in Australia is speeding things up with drones and machine learning.

Planetary Science

Flashes in Venus’ atmosphere might be meteors, not lightning

With upcoming missions planned for Venus, scientists are eager to figure out the origin of the mysterious flashes.

Earth

50 years ago, mysterious glass hinted at Earth’s violent past

Like Hansel and Gretel followed a trail of breadcrumbs, scientists have followed tektites to the sites of major meteorite impacts.

Planetary Science

NASA’s DART mission lofted a swarm of boulders into space

Hubble telescope images of the asteroid Dimorphos reveal a halo of 37 dim, newfound objects — most likely boulders shaken loose from the surface.

Planetary Science

Granite likely lurks beneath the moon’s surface

Without plate tectonics or water, granite is hard to make. But a 50-kilometer-wide hunk sits beneath the moon’s surface, lunar orbiter data suggest.