Planetary Science
Check out some of the weird rocks that have turned up on Mars
Some of the unusual rocks carry stories about water on Mars. One has hints of long-gone microbes. All tell of a dynamic, complex planet.
Planetary Science
More Stories in Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Uranus emits more heat than previously thought
Uranus radiates more energy than it gets from the sun, two new studies find — just as Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune do.
- Planetary Science
Juno reveals dozens of lava lakes on Jupiter’s moon Io
NASA’s Juno spacecraft identifies over 40 enormous lava lakes on Io, shedding light on the extreme volcanism sculpting Jupiter’s moon.
- Planetary Science
A private mission to Venus aims to look for signs of life
If successful, Morning Star would be the first private mission to another planet and the first in over 30 years to directly measure Venus’s clouds.
- Planetary Science
Ancient Mars wasn’t just wet. It was cold and wet
Mars may once have held enough water to fill oceans and form coastlines. The planet’s red dust contains water and likely formed in cold conditions.
- Physics
A weird ice that may form on alien planets has finally been observed
High-pressure experiments generated the first direct observation of plastic ice, which has qualities of both crystalline ice and liquid water.
- Planetary Science
The moon’s two grand canyons formed in less than 10 minutes
Two gargantuan canyons on the moon were carved by a hailstorm of rocks — and that’s good news for future lunar astronauts.
- Earth
Ancient rocks reveal when rivers began pouring nutrients into the sea
Rivers began pumping weathered material into the sea about a billion years after Earth formed, suggesting continents may have gotten an early start.
- Planetary Science
A crumbling exoplanet spills its guts
Astronomers have determined the internal composition of a distant, disintegrating planet for the first time.
- Planetary Science
Pluto may have captured its moon Charon with a kiss
When Pluto met Charon, there was an instant connection, new simulations suggest.
