SOHO Observatory Discovers Its 5,000th Comet
On March 25, 2024, Hanjie Tan, an astronomy Ph.D. student in Prague, Czech Republic, spotted a comet in an image from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, which…
Scientists Create High-Resolution Geological Map of Oxia Planum
Using data from ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, planetary scientists have created the 1:30000 scale geological map of Oxia Planum, the landing site for ESA’s…
Clouds of Venus Could Be Hospitable for Some Forms of Life, New Research Suggests
Planetary scientists have long speculated about the potential habitability of Venus, not at its hot surface, but in the cloud layers located at 48-60 km altitudes, where temperatures match those found…
Tricarbon Molecule Detected in Atmosphere of Titan
The tricarbon molecule (C3) is likely produced in the upper atmosphere of Titan by the reaction of abundant acetylene with atomic carbon. This view of Titan is among the last…
Planetary Scientists Discover Giant Shield Volcano on Mars
Provisionally designated Noctis Mons, the newly-discovered volcano is located just south of Mars’ equator, in Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus, west of Valles Marineris, the planet’s vast canyon system. Noctis Mons. Image…
Mars Drives Deep-Ocean Circulation in Earth’s Oceans, Study Suggests
Geoscientists from Australia and France have used the geological record of Earth’s deep oceans to discover a connection between the orbits of our home planet and Mars. They’ve discovered a…
NASA Scientists Unveil Design for Europa Clipper’s ‘Golden Record’
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a triangular metal plate with a special message when it launches in October 2024 and heads toward Jupiter’s moon Europa. This side of a…
Europa Produces Less Oxygen than Previously Thought
Using data from the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary scientists have calculated the rate of oxygen being produced at Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to…
Mars Express Spots Sand Dunes and Ice Layers at Martian North Pole
New images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft show the terrain surrounding the permanent north polar ice cap of Mars. This image from ESA’s…
Asteroid Moonlet Dimorphos May Have Been Reshaped Following Impact from NASA’s DART Mission
On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully impacted Dimorphos, the natural satellite of the binary near-Earth asteroid Didymos. New numerical simulations indicate that the DART…