Planetary Science

Planetary Science

Ice gave Pluto a heavy heart

Sputnik Planitia, the left half of Pluto’s heart-shaped region, might have been carved out by the weight of thick layers of ice built up billions of years ago.

Earth

How a ring of mountains forms inside a crater

Rocks drilled from the Chicxulub crater linked to the demise of the dinosaurs reveal how mountainous peak rings form within large impact craters.

Planetary Science

X-ray mystery shrouds Pluto

Chandra telescope detects seven X-ray photons coming from Pluto, suggesting that the solar wind runs into a tail of gas streaming from the dwarf planet.

Planetary Science

Mars lander debris spotted

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the impact site of the Schiaparelli Mars lander, missing in action since its October 19 descent.

Planetary Science

Two unseen moons may circle Uranus

Two more moons might be lurking around Uranus, causing material in the planet’s rings to clump up, Voyager 2 data suggest.

Planetary Science

First peek under clouds reveals Jupiter’s surprising depths

Jupiter’s colorful bands originate several hundred kilometers beneath the cloud tops, the Juno spacecraft reveals.

Planetary Science

Mars lander silent as mission scientists work out what went wrong

Schiaparelli lander is still silent on the surface of Mars while mission scientists try to understand what happened during the probe’s descent.

Planetary Science

Experts don’t agree on age of Saturn’s rings

Saturn’s rings could be almost as old as the solar system, and the Cassini craft is poised to help find out.

Planetary Science

Juno spacecraft goes into ‘safe mode,’ continues to orbit Jupiter

The Juno spacecraft has gone into safe mode while in orbit around Jupiter. Mission scientists are also closely monitoring a fuel valve issue on the probe.

Planetary Science

Mission scientists await signal from Mars lander

The ExoMars mission’s Schiaparelli lander went silent before its scheduled landing on the Red Planet.

Planetary Science

Possibly cloudy forecast for parts of Pluto

Reflective patches on Pluto could be hints of rare cloud formation on the dwarf planet.

Planetary Science

ExoMars mission set to arrive at Red Planet on October 19

The European ExoMars mission is about to arrive at the Red Planet, dropping a lander on the surface and putting a spacecraft into orbit.