Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Craft reveals Martian site of ancient water
The distribution of materials in this composite image of the Nili Fossae region of Mars tells scientists that water resided there no more recently than nearly 4 billion years ago. Green indicates clay minerals that formed in a wet environment. Red depicts the mineral olivine, which formed about 3.8 billion years ago, according to the […]
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Signs of recent water on Mars
Pictures showing fresh deposits of bright material on two Martian gullies provide the most compelling evidence yet that water flowed on parts of the Red Planet during the last few years.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
So long, Surveyor
After 8 years of relaying pictures, topographic maps, magnetic field data, and compositional information from above the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft appears to have called it quits.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Howdy, Neighbors: Long-term study finds a batch of red dwarfs
Astronomers have found 20 previously unknown star systems that lie within 33 light-years of Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Jovian storm grows stormier
Jupiter's Little Red Spot has become as strong as its big brother.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Satanic Winds
Dust devils send prodigious amounts of dust into Earth's atmosphere, and on Mars the electric fields generated by the dusty vortices may actually stimulate changes in atmospheric chemistry that sterilize the soil.
By Sid Perkins - Planetary Science
A sunrise view of Mars
The first high-resolution images sent by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter support the notion that water once flowed across much of the Red Planet.
- Planetary Science
Ring Shots
With the sun poised behind Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft recently got a unique view of the rings' icy dust particles, enabling it to discover two new rings and confirm the presence of two ringlets.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Web Special: Clay magic on Mars
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just completed a week of picture taking from as low as 300 kilometers above the surface of the Red Planet.
- Planetary Science
Web Special: Welcome to Mars’ Victoria Crater
With stunningly powerful vision, the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken a remarkable picture that shows the exploration rover Opportunity poised on the rim of Victoria Crater on Mars.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
A discordant name for a dwarf planet
The largest known object at the fringes of the solar system, the icy body whose discovery heated up the debate about the nature of planethood, has an apt new name.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
SMART stop
The European Space Agency's first mission to the moon ended with a deliberate bang on Sept. 3.
By Ron Cowen