Ceres is Former Ocean World, Planetary Scientists Say
Ceres is a key object in understanding the evolution of small bodies and is the only dwarf planet to have been orbited by a spacecraft, NASA’s Dawn mission. Dawn data…
MAVEN and Hubble Observations Shed New Light on Mars’ Water History
Mars’ water history is fundamental to understanding an evolution of Earth-like planets. Water escapes to space as atoms, and hydrogen (H) atoms escape faster than deuterium (D) — which is…
Venus Express Detects Unexpected Increase of Deuterium to Hydrogen Ratio in Venusian Mesosphere
Although Venus is sometimes referred to as Earth’s twin, its current surface conditions are drastically different, making it inhospitable to life. Not only is liquid water unable to exist due…
Mid-Crust of Mars May Contain ‘Oceans of Liquid Water’
New data about the Martian crust gathered by NASA’s InSight lander allowed geophysicists at the University of California San Diego and the University of California Berkeley to estimate that the…
Mars Once Hosted Lake Larger than Any on Earth: Lake Eridania
This new image from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft shows Caralis Chaos, broken-down and dried-up remnants of a vast ancient Martian lake named Lake…
Curiosity Finds Pure Sulfur on Mars
Yellow crystals of elemental sulfur were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity rover happened to drive over a rock and crack it open on May 30, 2024, according to the Curiosity team.…
Ancient Mars was Cool and Relatively Wet, New Study Suggests
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…
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…
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…
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…