A new computer simulation adds a crust to the Earth-smashing planet Theia, showing how a proto-Moon could form from the leftovers.
planetary interiors
Posted inResearch Spotlights
InSight into Seismology on the Red Planet
Viking 2 detected two possible marsquakes in 1976. New analysis links one to the same region where InSight recorded nearly 1,000 marsquakes decades later.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Super-Earths May Be Solid Deep Inside Their Mantles
New estimates show that a mineral likely common in these rocky planets’ interiors is resistant to melting, even at high temperatures.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Io’s Hidden Heat Revealed for the First Time
Data from the Juno spacecraft also suggest that Jupiter’s moon has a relatively smooth, low-density surface.
Posted inNews
Apollo Samples Told a Conflicting Story About Lunar Magnetism, Until Now
Observations suggested the Moon had both a weak and strong magnetic field in the distant past. A new study presents a theory accommodating all the evidence.
Posted inNews
What Tumbling Asteroids Tell Us About Their Innards
Data from the Gaia space observatory reveal that many slowly spinning asteroids rotate chaotically. A new theory links that chaos to their inner structure and history.
Posted inNews
Scientists May Have Finally Detected a Solid Inner Core on Mars
Seismic clues from NASA’s InSight mission suggest that Mars hides a solid inner core, and raise new questions about why the planet’s magnetic field disappeared.
Posted inNews
Buried Sediments Point to an Ancient Ocean on Mars
Ground-penetrating radar data collected by the Zhurong rover reveal gently sloping sediments in Mars’s northern lowlands that hint at a shoreline.
