Researchers subjected hydrocarbon samples in a laboratory to Neptune-like pressures. The samples, reminiscent of molecules found in the ice giant’s atmosphere, compressed into nanodiamonds.
everything atmospheric
Posted inNews
VIDEO: The Weird, Wonderful Science Behind Titan’s Atmosphere
Scientists are baffled by a spacecraft’s detection of large molecules in a moon’s atmosphere.
Posted inOpinions
Taking the Pulse of the Planet
How fast is Earth warming? Ocean heat content and sea level rise measurements may provide a more reliable answer than atmospheric measurements.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mystery of the Ionosphere’s “Gyro Line” Solved
A new study provides an updated hypothesis to describe a unique radar signature from plasma waves high above Earth, correcting errors that had stood for decades.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Data Record Extends History of Global Air Pollution
Researchers extend long-term aerosol records to the past 40 years by combining two existing algorithms to process satellite data over both land and sea.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Powerful Pacific Forces Disrupt the California Current
Scientists create a 66-year data record to shed light on the role of El Niño in the California Current System’s shifting temperatures.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Observing Mercury’s Brilliant Flares from Earth
Researchers make the first short-term observation of sodium flares in Mercury’s exosphere.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tracking Meteor Trails to Study the Mesosphere
Twelve years of radar data reveal new phenomena in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Posted inNews
O. Walter Lennartsson (1943–2017)
A pioneering leader in unraveling the complex plasma interactions that drive the dynamics of Earth’s magnetosphere and other space plasma environments.
Posted inNews
Could a Newfound Molecule on Titan Be a Building Block for Life?
The discovery of vinyl cyanide in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan has huge implications for life—but not as we know it.