A Multi-Colored Mercury
This NASA image of the day shows a multi-colored Mercury using color to enhance the differences between the rocks that make up Mercury’s surface. Colors…
Planetary Science News
Kepler Mission Discovers Tiny Planet Slightly Larger Than Our Moon
Researchers working on NASA’s Kepler mission have discovered a new planetary system called Kepler-37. The new planetary system is about 210 light-years from Earth in…
Curiosity Rover Image Confirms First Drilled Mars Rock Sample
New images from NASA’s Curiosity rover confirm that it has successfully drilled and collected the first-ever rock sample from the interior of a rock on…
The Search for Exoplanets Intensifies
Aided by technology, astronomers at the University of Chicago search for far-off planets like Earth. When astronomers discovered planet GJ 1214b circling a star more…
Presence of Water in the Primary Crust Indicates That the Early Moon Was Wet
New findings from the University of Michigan indicate that the early moon was wet and that water there was not substantially lost during the moon’s…
Solving the Mystery of Saturn’s Moonlets
Scientists at Loughborough University have revealed a new computer model that could help solve the mystery of Saturn’s moonlets. Research by Loughborough University physicists casts…
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Drills and Collects First Martian Bedrock Sample
New images show that NASA’s Curiosity rover has successfully drilled and collected a rock powder sample from the Martian bedrock to be analyzed. NASA’s Curiosity…
Earth-like Planets May Have Older and More Evolved Life
Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics believe that six percent of red dwarf stars have habitable, Earth-sized planets. Since red dwarfs live much longer…
Nakhla Fragment Shows First Evidence of Water Dissolving the Surface of Mars
A newly published study details the test results of a 1.7-gram fragment of a Martian meteorite known as Nakhla, showing the first evidence of water…
Study Suggests Super-Earths Are More Like Mini-Neptunes
A newly published study suggests that super-Earths are surrounded by extended hydrogen-rich envelopes and that they are more like mini-Neptunes than Earth. In the last…
An Updated Model for Identifying Habitable Zones Around Stars
Scientists at Penn State have developed an updated model for determining whether discovered planets fall within a habitable zone. Researchers searching the galaxy for planets…
Storm Spawns the Largest Tropospheric Vortex Ever Seen on Saturn
Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists analyzed a massive storm on Saturn. The storm was the longest-lasting ever recorded on Saturn and it spawned…
TW Hydrae Has Enough Mass to Make the Equivalent of 50 Jupiters
Scientists believe the disk of material surrounding the 10 million year old star called TW Hydrae may be large enough to create an exotic planetary…
Scientists View Changes in Venus’s Ionosphere
Scientists were able to study the deformation of the sheath of electrons and ions enveloping Venus for the first time. In rare events, the sheath…
New Insights into How Retrograde Planets May Form and Endure
Astronomers continue to research the HAT-P-7 planetary system, looking for new insights into how retrograde planets may form and endure. Astronomers have used the Subaru…
Seasonal Thawing Transforms Mars Surface
A new video from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the springtime thaw of seasonal carbon dioxide ice on Mars that allows dust and gas to…
Mars Orbiter Shows McLaughlin Crater May Have Once Held a Groundwater-Fed Lake
New data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests that the McLaughlin Crater once held a lake fed by groundwater. A NASA spacecraft is providing new…
Curiosity Preparing to Drill Into First Martian Rock
If all goes as planned, NASA’s Curiosity rover may drill its first rock sample in the coming days, providing scientists with important details about the…