Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have detected helium in the atmosphere of the…
Browsing: Planetary Science
Planetary science is the interdisciplinary study of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other bodies in our solar system and beyond. It explores their composition, formation, atmospheres, geology, and potential for life—linking astronomy, geology, physics, and chemistry to understand planetary processes. Researchers use spacecraft missions, telescopes, and laboratory simulations to study worlds like Mars, Venus, and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, uncovering clues about Earth’s origins and the dynamics of planetary systems. From analyzing meteorites to exploring exoplanets, planetary science seeks to answer fundamental questions about the diversity, evolution, and habitability of worlds across the universe.
The climate of early Mars is a subject of debate. While it has been thought…
Far across the solar system, where Earth appears merely as a pale blue dot, NASA’s…
Far across the solar system, from where Earth appears merely as a pale blue dot,…
NASA’s next mission to Mars, Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight),…
By aiming intense X-ray beams at iron samples, scientists have studied the cores of “super-Earth”…
Mercury is small, fast, and close to the sun, making the rocky world challenging to…
Saturn’s rings display their subtle colors in this view captured on August 22, 2009, by…
Hydrogen sulfide, the gas that gives rotten eggs their distinctive odor, permeates the upper atmosphere…
This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by…
Southwest Research Institute scientists posit a violent birth of the tiny Martian moons Phobos and…
As Curiosity rover marches across Mars, the red planet’s watery past comes into clearer focus.…
Fragments of a meteorite that fell to Earth more than a decade ago provide compelling…
Theoretical physicists used simulations to explain the unusual readings collected in 2009 by the Mercury…
“The directive I am signing today will refocus America’s space program on human exploration and…
Planets orbiting “short-period” binary stars, or stars locked in close orbital embrace, can be ejected…
Legendary explorers and visionaries, real and fictitious, are among those immortalized by the IAU in…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By6sZ6RGCEQ In this animation, the viewer is taken low over Jupiter’s north pole to illustrate…