An instrument called WATSON can help find biosignatures on icy ocean worlds.
Space & Planets
Posted inNews
Airless Exoplanet’s Mantle Could Flow in Halves
With no atmosphere in the way, measurements of the planet’s surface temperature are the first observational constraints on mantle convection models for an exoplanet.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Better Understanding of How the Sun Bends Light
Incorporating the refractive index of the Sun into models of gravitational lensing effects improves agreement with measurements of the phenomenon.
Posted inScience Updates
Planetary Cave Exploration Progresses
Terrestrial caves offer scientific and engineering insights and serve as testing grounds for future forays by humans and robots into caves on other worlds.
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Exoplanet Earth: An Ultimate Selfie to Find Habitable Worlds
Aliens spying on us from afar is a common science fiction trope. Soon we might know what E.T. would see through a telescope. And that information could help identify other Earth-like planets.
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Bringing Clarity to Magnetic Reconnection
A particle-level process appears to play a key role in planet-sized events throughout the universe.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Moon May Hold Billions of Tons of Subterranean Ice at Its Poles
By modeling over 4 billion years of the Moon’s impact history, scientists estimate that the lunar poles may harbor billions of metric tons of subsurface ice.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Gravity Waves Leave Ripples Across a Glowing Night Sky
A thunderstorm made waves on a rare “bright night.”
Posted inNews
On Thin Ice: Tiger Stripes on Enceladus
Saturn’s moon Enceladus boasts fierce tiger stripes around its south pole, a mystery that has long puzzled scientists. New research explores the stripes by examining how the moon’s ice breaks.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Juno Era Model of the Jovian Magnetosphere
Updating a model developed during the Voyager flybys will enable better mission planning and a deeper understanding of Juno data.