Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Water’s role in Martian chemistry becoming clearer

    As mission nears end, Phoenix Mars Lander finds strong evidence for minerals similar to those formed on Earth by liquid water.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s rings may not be as young as they look

    Saturn's rings might be more massive, and thus older, than researchers had believed.

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  3. Planetary Science

    Racing against the Martian winter

    With solid findings under its belt and the Martian summer waning, the Phoenix Mars lander perseveres in its study of the soil and sky of the planet’s arctic plain.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Cassini finds liquid ethane on Titan

    After years of speculation, planetary scientists have now confirmed that Titan has at least one lake made of liquid ethane.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Tasting ice

    Phoenix Mars Lander drills for ice.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Lunar liquid

    A new analysis of moon rocks has revealed that the moon isn’t as bone dry as researchers had thought, whetting the appetite of scientists who seek a deeper understanding of how Earth’s only natural satellite arose and evolved.

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  7. Astronomy

    Impact may have transformed Mars

    Three teams suggest that a huge object slammed into Mars, giving the planet an unusually dualistic topography.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Surprise found in comet dust

    Scientists find an odd mineral that could offer clues to the solar system's origins.

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  9. Astronomy

    Visions of dirt

    Phoenix Lander gets first close-up of Martian soil.

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  10. Planetary Science

    Shake, shake, shake

    Instrument succeeds in capturing first soil sample, allowing Mars Phoenix Lander team to begin scientific studies.

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  11. Planetary Science

    Colliding moonlets

    New photos of collisions in one of Saturn’s rings provide a local lab for understanding the interactions that might shape young solar system formation.

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  12. Planetary Science

    Small exoplanet discovered

    Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet known that is beyond the solar system and orbits an ordinary parent body.

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