Planetary Science
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- Astronomy
Year in Review: Visitor from the Oort cloud
A visitor from the outer solar system flies past the sun.
- Planetary Science
Year in Review: Methane shortage on Mars
A trace of the gas is not enough to be a sign of life.
- Astronomy
Exoplanet dangerously close to demise
Kepler-91b could be on the brink of death — at least on astronomical time scales.
- Planetary Science
Exoplanet mass revealed in light
A new method could help identify habitable planets.
- Planetary Science
Sinkholes, tectonics may have shaped Titan’s lakes and seas
A map of Saturn’s largest moon reveals clues about the object's landscape.
- Planetary Science
Europa vents water, Hubble data suggest
Plumes from ice-covered oceans would increase likelihood of life-friendly conditions on one moon of Jupiter.
- Planetary Science
Mars was habitable longer, more recently than thought
Warmer, wetter conditions lasted until 3.5 billion years ago on the Red Planet.
- Astronomy
Saturn’s six-sided cloud pattern gets a close look
New images show particles in the planet’s hexagonally shaped jet stream.
- 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.
