“Stealth” Ocean Worlds: Evidence Uncovered for an Internal Ocean in Small Saturn Moon
Discovery could point to a new class of “stealth” ocean worlds. A Southwest Research Institute scientist set out to prove that the tiny, innermost moon…
Moons
Astronomers Discover Evidence of Super-Sized Moon Orbiting a Jupiter-Sized Planet Beyond Our Solar System
An exomoon signal found in archival data hints at the possibility of more discoveries to come. Astronomers have reported a second, super-sized moon orbiting a…
Mars Express Orbiter Unravels Mystery of Largest Martian Moon, Phobos, Using “Fake” Flybys
By performing a series of real and ‘fake’ flybys, ESA’s Mars Express has revealed how Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, interacts with the solar wind of…
Are Water Plumes Spraying From Jupiter’s Moon Europa? NASA’s Europa Clipper Spacecraft Is on the Case
Finding plumes at Europa is an exciting prospect, but scientists warn it’ll be tricky, even from up close. In 2005, images of a brilliant watery…
Icequakes Likely Rumble Along Geyser-Spitting Fractures on Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus
Seismic activity could give scientists a read on the thickness of the ice encasing the moon and the oceans believed to lie beneath. Tidal stresses…
Astronomers Discover Disk Around Young Super-Jupiter Which May Form Moons
An international team of astronomers led by scientists from Leiden University has for the first time characterized a dust disk surrounding a young super-Jupiter, which…
Hubble Finds Mysterious Replenishment of Water Vapor on Jupiter’s Moon Europa
Ice Sublimating Off the Surface Replenishes a Tenuous Envelope You would think that living half-a-billion miles from the Sun would be no place to call…
Japan Space Agency: Why We’re Exploring the Moons of Mars
Dr. Ryuki Hyodo shares the science behind JAXA’s upcoming MMX mission to the Martian moons, and the unique features of this journey to Mars’s domain….
Astrophysicists Spot an Exoplanet With the Potential To Form Moons
New high-resolution observations clearly show a moon-forming region around exoplanet PDS 70c. The observations have allowed astronomers to determine the ring-shaped region’s size and mass…
Titan-in-a-Glass Experiments Hint at Mineral Makeup of Saturn’s Largest Moon
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is a natural laboratory to study the origins of life. Like Earth, Titan has a dense atmosphere and seasonal weather cycles,…
Japan’s Mission to Mars’ Moon Phobos Will Bring a Sample Home by 2029
Japan’s space agency (JAXA) is gearing up for its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, with plans to have a sample from Mars’ moon Phobos return…
First Evidence of Water Vapor at Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede – May Hold More Water Than All of Earth’s Oceans
Astronomers have used archival datasets from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to reveal the first evidence for water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon…
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration Mission Will Return a Sample From Mars’ Moon Phobos
The role of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission in the new era of Martian life exploration. The surface of the Martian moon, Phobos, is…
NASA’s Juno Celebrates 10 Years With New Infrared View of Mammoth Jovian Moon Ganymede
The spacecraft used its infrared instrument during recent flybys of Jupiter’s mammoth moon to create this latest map, which comes out a decade after Juno’s…
NASA’s Dragonfly Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Announces Big Science Goals
Among our solar system’s many moons, Saturn’s Titan stands out – it’s the only moon with a substantial atmosphere and liquid on the surface. It…
A Few Steps Closer to Jupiter’s Moon Europa: Spacecraft Hardware Makes Headway
Take a closer look at the complex choreography involved in building NASA’s Europa Clipper as the mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa approaches its 2024…
Hubble Finds First Evidence of Water Vapor in the Atmosphere of Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede
Oxygen Found on the Frozen World Is Linked to Sublimating Surface Ice Though larger than the blistering planet Mercury, the Jovian moon Ganymede is no…
Hear the Eerie Radio Emissions NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Recorded From Jupiter and Its Moon Io
The Juno Waves instrument “listened” to the radio emissions from Jupiter’s immense magnetic field to find their precise locations. By listening to the rain of…