The first mission to a metallic asteroid, scheduled for launch on 5 October, could provide clues to the formation of Earth and the solar system’s other inner planets.
planets
Posted inFeatures
Cryovolcanism’s Song of Ice and Fire
Ocean moons of the outer solar system hint at ice volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, and the tantalizing chance of habitability.
Posted inAGU News
Oceans of Opportunity
Our solar system’s ocean worlds offer scientists intriguing instances of exotic phenomena and fresh prospects in the elusive search for planetary habitability.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mars Has Far Fewer Minerals Than Earth Does
The development of plate tectonics and life on Earth provided avenues for mineral evolution that did not occur on Mars, resulting in relatively limited mineral diversity on the Red Planet.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Visualizing the Deep Insides of Planets and Moons
A novel method uses gravity data to determine where density anomalies lie inside planetary bodies.
Posted inNews
A Planet Is Dramatically Losing Its Atmosphere
Helium that was once part of the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet HAT-P-32b is being ripped away and forming two giant streamers of gas several million kilometers long.
Posted inNews
A Mission to Uranus Could Help Find Planet 9
Narrowing down the search is essential for gaining time on a high-powered telescope that could spot the hypothesized planet directly.
Posted inNews
Molten Meteorites Didn’t Deliver Earth’s Water
A new study has ruled out large, once-molten meteorites called achondrites as sources of Earth’s water.
Posted inFeatures
Edgard Rivera-Valentín: Boricua Planeteer
Inspired by the science infrastructure in their own backyard.
Posted inEditors' Vox
The Mystery of Methane on Mars Thickens
Two recently published papers zoom in on the mystery source of methane in the Martian atmosphere.