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…
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…
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…
Webb Observes Enceladus’ Water Vapor Plume
As Enceladus orbits rapidly around Saturn with a period of only 1.37 Earth days, the ejected water vapor is spread along and around its orbit, forming a large torus around…
Four Uranian Moons Host Subsurface Oceans, New Research Suggests
The five large moons of Uranus — Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon — are important targets for future spacecraft missions. Studying these bodies would help address the extent of…
Vikings Abandoned Southwest Greenland Due in Part to Sea-Level Rise, New Research Suggests
The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how they lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in the 15th century remain enigmatic. Hypotheses…
Impact Glass Beads from the Moon Contain Solar Wind-Derived Water, Study Shows
Scientists from China and the United States have analyzed the impact glass beads from a lunar soil sample returned by China’s Chang’e-5 mission. Asteroid and comet impacts are the major…
Scientists Explain Why Jupiter’s and Saturn’s Icy Moons Have Extreme Radar Properties
The radar properties of icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn commonly differ by more than an order of magnitude from those of rocky planets because of the lower absorptivity of…
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…
Study Offers New Insights into Extraterrestrial Origins of Earth’s Water
In new research, planetary scientists from the University of Maryland and elsewhere analyzed melted meteorites that had been floating around in space since the Solar System’s formation around 4.5 billion…