Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Moon wears dusty cloak
Old data from Apollo missions stir up debate about speed of lunar dust accumulation.
- Planetary Science
China’s first moon-landing mission blasts off
If successful, the Chang’e 3 lunar lander and Yutu rover will be the first spacecraft to land on the moon in 37 years.
- Planetary Science
Turbulent ocean could explain Europa’s chaotic ice
New computer simulations show turbulent global ocean currents that distribute heat unevenly and could explain the formation of the chaotic ice patterns at the moon’s lower latitudes.
- Astronomy
Dust cloud, tail could explain exoplanet’s odd light pattern
KIC 12557548 b may be ejecting dust from its surface, creating a cometlike tail behind it and an opaque envelope of material around it.
- Planetary Science
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot explained
A computer simulation is the first to explain how Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has survived for the nearly 200 years humans have observed it.
- Planetary Science
Ancient Martian meteorite preserves chunks of planet’s early crust
Rock could reveal what Mars was like 4.4 billion years ago.
- Planetary Science
MAVEN spacecraft blasts off to Mars
In September 2014, the satellite will begin studying the Red Planet's upper atmosphere.
- Planetary Science
Uninhabitable Earth
A recent estimate of the lifetimes of the habitability zones of Earth and various exoplanets suggests Earth could become unable to support life as soon as 1.75 billion years from now, when the sun brightens before dying out.
- Astronomy
Moon’s craters remeasured
Large craters cover more of the moon’s surface on its nearside than its farside, according to new maps from NASA’s GRAIL spacecrafts.
- Planetary Science
Meteor explosions like this year’s Russian fireball more common than thought
Chelyabinsk-sized rocks may come to Earth every 30 years, on average.
- Planetary Science
Moon material on Earth
Scientists now think that tektites are a type of impactite, formed during the rapid heating and cooling of material ejected when a meteorite strikes Earth.
- Astronomy
An Earth-sized hell circles faraway star
Kepler-78b, an Earth-sized, extremely hot exoplanet made of rock and iron, is the smallest with known diameter and mass.
