Planetary Science

Planetary Science

Hole from on high

Researchers discover a fresh meteorite impact crater using Google Earth.

Planetary Science

Up close and personal with an asteroid

The Rosetta orbiter makes its second swing past a relic of the early solar system.

Earth

Antarctic shoal breaks the ice

Instruments on a massive berg help pinpoint a previously unreported undersea ridge.

Earth

Planes can trigger snowfall

Under certain conditions, aircraft can trigger precipitation as they pass through moisture-laden clouds.

Planetary Science

Hubble hunting for Jupiter bruise

No scar found yet on planet from June 3 crash with unidentified object.

Planetary Science

Before the Mississippi, minerals show ancient rivers flowed west

Michigan zircons uncover the path of an ancient river system across North America.

Earth

Hazy antidote to a faint young sun

A new theory suggests atmospheric answer to the continuing paradox of why early Earth wasn’t icy.

Planetary Science

Jupiter’s crash of ’09

The body that crashed into Jupiter last summer was likely an asteroid, and such impacts might occur as frequently as every 10 to 15 years, new studies suggest.

Planetary Science

Martian moon probably pretty porous

Phobos may be a mass of rocky rubble, not a captured asteroid.

Earth

Gravity lows mark burial sites of ancient tectonic plates

Dips in Earth's gravitational field are tied to 'slab graveyards'

Planetary Science

Warmth in the dark age

Lower reflectivity kept Earth from freezing under a fainter young sun.

Planetary Science

Signs of giant comet impacts found in cores

An uptick in ammonium may be evidence of a 50-billion-ton strike at the end of the ice age.