Models link the variety of crater shapes expected on (16) Psyche with the interior structure of this unique asteroid, in preparation for the arrival of the Psyche probe in 2026.
craters
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Moon May Hold Billions of Tons of Subterranean Ice at Its Poles
By modeling over 4 billion years of the Moon’s impact history, scientists estimate that the lunar poles may harbor billions of metric tons of subsurface ice.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Self-Repairing Blemishes on the Surface of Mars
A new study of small impact craters at Mars landing sites suggests that active processes degrade and infill depressions at similar rates in locations separated by thousands of kilometers.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Who Wants to Count All the Craters on Mars? Not Me!
Humans found hundreds of thousands of craters on Mars greater than 1 kilometer in diameter, but now computers automate the process delivering crater counts as well as geologically meaningful ages.
Posted inNews
Chicxulub Impact Crater Hosted a Long-Lived Hydrothermal System
Chemical and mineralogical evidence of fluid flow—potentially conducive to microscopic life—was revealed in rock cores extracted from the crater’s “peak ring.”
Posted inNews
Podcast: Instruments of Unusual Size
Rumbling volcanoes act like giant musical instruments that researchers can study to better monitor eruptions.
Posted inNews
Water Ice Lurks in Young—but Not Too Young—Lunar Craters
Using topographic data, researchers have estimated the ages of water ice–containing craters near the Moon’s poles and ruled out volcanism as being a primary route for water delivery.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Lomonosov: The Crater That Started a Martian Mega Tsunami
Three billion years ago, on Mars, the shores of an ocean may have been flooded by a mega-tsunami. Now the crater left by the bolide impact that probably triggered the tsunami has been identified.
Posted inNews
The Search for the Impact That Cratered Ancient Scotland
Great Britain’s largest impact crater likely lies in the Scottish Highlands. Scientists dispute whether it’s to the west or the east.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How the Moon Got Its Concentric Rings
A new study explores the origins of massive, multiringed lunar craters.