Each solar cycle might seem like the same old story, but one thing has changed significantly since the previous solar maximum–our technology.
solar system
Posted inScience Updates
A Time Capsule from the Early Solar System Is En Route to Earth
After an exciting encounter with asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx mission team looks forward to hitting pay dirt when a hefty sample of ancient planetesimal material is delivered to Earth next year.
Posted inNews
Flipping the Sequence of Martian Formation
Analysis of the Chassigny meteorite suggests the planet acquired most of its interior volatiles from meteorites, not from the solar nebula.
Posted inNews
Galaxy Mapper Tracks Asteroids Closer to Home
The Gaia mission’s asteroid survey will help dig deeper into the solar system’s rocky history.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Glimpse at Planet Formation at the Dawn of the Solar System
The low density of Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth sheds light on the formation of planetesimals in the early solar system.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Dynamics of Ocean Worlds Likely Controlled by Their Rotation
New simulations suggest that subsurface oceans on icy moons with small natural Rossby numbers may be dominated by rotational effects.
Posted inNews
Pluto’s Surface Was Recently Sculpted by Icy Volcanism
Geologically young regions of Pluto’s southern hemisphere were likely resurfaced by cryovolcanism, data from the New Horizons spacecraft reveal.
Posted inENGAGE, News
Machine Learning Pinpoints Meteorite-Rich Areas in Antarctica
A new algorithm suggests that only a small fraction of meteorites present on the White Continent’s surface have been recovered to date.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Deep-Space Origin for Volatile-Rich Asteroids
Spectral data and modeling suggest that volatile-rich main-belt asteroids initially formed at much greater distances from the Sun (>10 AU).