Webb Detects Hydrogen Peroxide on Ganymede
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the only satellite in the Solar System known to have an intrinsic magnetic field. Interactions between this field and the magnetosphere of Jupiter are expected to…
Early, Energetic Collisions Could Have Fueled Venus Volcanism: Study
New research shows that long-lived volcanism, driven by early, energetic collisions on Venus, offers an explanation of its young surface age with stagnant-lid tectonics. This volcanic activity is fuelled by…
Auroral Mechanisms May Be Universal throughout Our Solar System
An analysis of data obtained during the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft’s first Mercury flyby reveals that Mercury’s southern magnetosphere aurorae are similar to those seen on Earth and Mars. An artist’s…
Perseverance Finds Diverse Organic Molecules in Jezero Crater
The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument onboard NASA’s Perseverance rover has detected several species of aromatic organic molecules in the Máaz and…
Planetary Scientists Find Large Granite Formation on Moon’s Far Side
The 50-km-diameter granitic system discovered below the far side feature known as Compton-Belkovich Volcanic Complex likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes…
Martian Gullies Could Have Been Formed by On-And-Off Periods of Liquid Meltwater
Some steep slopes on Mars have gullies with morphologies suggesting that they were formed by a liquid. However, the planet’s current climate is not conducive to the melting of water…
MAVEN Observes Mars in Ultraviolet Light
Planetary scientists using the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument onboard NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft have captured two amazing images of the Red Planet. By viewing the…
New Research Sheds More Light on Evolution of Europa’s Interior
Many planetary scientists studying Jupiter’s moon Europa assumed that it formed with a metallic core during or shortly after accretion. New research from Arizona State University contradicts that prediction, instead…
Phosphorus, Rare Building Block for Life, Discovered at Enceladus
Phosphorus has not previously been detected in oceans beyond those on Earth and this discovery provides a promising step forward in our understanding of ocean worlds. Saturn’s moon Enceladus with…
Parker Solar Probe Identifies Mechanism Driving Fast Solar Wind
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has flown close enough to the Sun to detect the fine structure of the solar wind close to where it is generated at the solar surface,…