NASA’s Juno Orbiter Captures Stunning Images of Jupiter’s Moon Io
On February 3, 2024, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a second close flyby of Io, the fifth of Jupiter’s moons and the third largest. Like the previous flyby on December 30,…
ESA’s Mars Express Focuses on Surroundings of Olympus Mons Volcano
Lava flows on Olympus Mons probably melted ice in the ground, making the volcano flank unstable; rockfalls and landslides moved hundreds of km into the surrounding landscape, forming a characteristic…
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…
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…
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…
Iron-Rich Meteoritic and Volcanic Particles May Have Promoted Origin of Life Reactions on Early Earth
Precursors of the molecules needed for the origin of life may have been generated by chemical reactions promoted by meteoritic and volcanic particles approximately 4.4 billion years ago, says a…
ESA’s Mars Express Orbiter Sees Fissured Flanks of Mars’ Second-Tallest Volcano
Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost and tallest of three prominent volcanoes found in the Tharsis region of Mars, a volcanic plateau in the planet’s western hemisphere. This image from ESA’s…
Venus is Home to At Least 85,000 Volcanoes, Planetary Researchers Say
There are many thousands of volcanoes on the surface of Venus. These volcanoes provide clues into the interior properties of the planet, properties that are otherwise largely inaccessible to scientists…
Relict Glacier Spotted near Martian Equator
A so-called light-toned deposit (LTD) in Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus, about 160 km (99.4 miles) north-west of Oudemans crater near Mars’ equator, presents distinctive morphologic characteristics of a glacier, according to…
Venus Has Ongoing Active Volcanism, New Study Confirms
Planetary scientists have examined volcanic areas on Venus that were imaged two or three times by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft and identified a 2.2-km2 volcanic vent that changed shape in the…