Images from the rover’s pioneering encounter with sand dunes on Mars constrain wind speeds required to move sand in the thin Martian atmosphere.
planetary atmospheres
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Huge Storms Disrupted Jupiter’s Fastest Jet Stream in 2016
Recurrent jet stream disturbances provide glimpses of what lies beneath the gas giant’s thick upper cloud cover.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Spacecraft Returns Its First Data on Martian Solar Irradiance
Scientists demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the mathematical model used to calculate solar irradiance using measurements from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN).
Posted inNews
The Curious Case of Titan’s Missing Clouds
Two instruments, one region on Titan: One instrument saw clouds, the other didn't—what's going on?
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mars's Atmosphere Matches Earth's Turbulent Nature
Mars is even more like Earth than we thought, according to a statistical analysis of the planet's swirling atmosphere.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Even the Magnetosphere Has Problems
In a new conference and collection of papers, international space physicists narrow down the enigmas that puzzle magnetospheric science.
Posted inNews
Juno Spacecraft Nails Its Orbit Around Jupiter
The mission will spend 20 months collecting data on the planet's core, its magnetic field, and the composition of its atmosphere.
Posted inScience Updates
Comparing Planetary Climates to Investigate Climate Systems
Comparative Climates of Terrestrial Planets II (CCTP2 ): Understanding How Climate Systems Work; Moffett Field, California, 8–11 September 2015
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Hubble Gazes at Europa's Aurora
Scientists get their best glimpse yet of the shimmering phenomena on one of Jupiter's most intriguing moons.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Demystifying Mercury "Hollows"
Spectral data from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft indicate that the properties of the depressions on Mercury's surface can vary within a single crater and that these differences may correlate to age.