Juno Spots ‘Hot Rings’ on Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io
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…
Study: Active, Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems on Small Ocean Worlds Could Support Life
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…
Coastlines of Titan’s Largest Lakes and Seas Were Eroded by Wave Activity: Study
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,…
NASA Returns Voyager 1 Spacecraft to Normal Science Operations
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…
Water Frost Deposits Spotted on Tropical Martian Volcanoes
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…
Jupiter’s Polar Cyclones are Fueled by Processes Similar to Those Acting on Earth: Study
Planetary scientists first made the connection between Earth and Jupiter in 2018 when they noticed a striking similarity between images of Jupiter’s huge cyclones and the ocean turbulence. In 2022,…
NILS Detects Negative Ions on Lunar Surface
The Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument onboard China’s Chang’e-6 probe has detected negative ions on the surface of the Moon. These ions are produced on the lunar…
Freshwater Appeared on Earth About 4 Billion Years Ago, Study Suggests
Analyzing 4-billion-year-old zircon crystals from the Jack Hills in Western Australia’s Mid West region, geoscientists have pushed back the timeline for the emergence of freshwater to just a few hundred…
Venus is Currently Volcanically Active, New Study Confirms
Using radar data from NASA’s Magellan mission, planetary scientists have detected volcanic-related flow features in two different regions of Venus: on the western flank of Sif Mons and in western…
Pluto’s Subsurface Ocean is 8% Denser than Seawater on Earth, Study Suggests
Planetary researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the Lunar and Planetary Institute have used mathematical models and unprecedented high-resolution images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to take a…