Established in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, the current definition specifies that to qualify as a planet, a celestial body must orbit the Sun within our Solar System. But…
Saturn’s moon Titan was explored by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft from 2004 to 2017. While Cassini revealed a lot about this Earth-like world, its radar observations could only provide limited information…
In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold subarctic climate. X-ray amorphous material comprises…
Within the uncertainties of involved astronomical and biological parameters, the Drake equation typically predicts that there should be many exoplanets (< 100 to millions) in our Milky Way Galaxy hosting active,…
Current impact rates at Mars could be 2-10 times higher than previously estimated, depending on the size of the meteoroids, according to new research. Mars; the center of the scene…
These bright (hot) ‘thermal rings’ are a common phenomenon, and they are indicative of active lava lakes, according to a new analysis of data from the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper…
Ocean worlds are planetary bodies that have a liquid ocean, often under an icy shell or within the rocky interior. In our own Solar System, several moons of Jupiter and…
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is the only known planetary body besides Earth on which standing liquids persist. Liquid hydrocarbons, supplied by rainfall from the moon’s thick atmosphere, form rivers, lakes,…
Voyager 1 is conducting science operations for the first time following a technical issue that arose in November 2023. Voyager 1 launched from Florida’s NASA Kennedy Space Center on September…
Using high-resolution color images from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express missions, planetary researchers have found evidence for morning frost deposits on the calderas of the Tharsis volcanoes…