Europa Clipper will assess whether Jupiter’s moon has the right ingredients to host life, and could illuminate the mysteries of icy worlds throughout the solar system.
Space & Planets
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Did Magma Oceans Evolve on Early Earth and Mars?
New insights into the early timelines of rocky planets are emerging, thanks to clues from iron chemistry and primordial atmospheres.
Posted inNews
ALMA Watches the Surface of a Star “Boil”
Observations of R Doradus, a nearby red giant, provide the first timescale for convection on the surface of any star other than the Sun.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Fifteen Years Later, Scientists Locate a Lunar Impact Site
The impact crater from NASA’s LCROSS mission lies hidden in an eternally dark region of the Moon.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Moon’s Tides Hint at a Melty Lunar Layer
New lunar gravity measurements support the idea that a partially molten mantle layer is sandwiched between the rest of the Moon’s mantle and its core.
Posted inNews
These Five Craters May Have Birthed a Third of Martian Meteorites
Researchers have homed in on five craters on the Red Planet that are the likely sources of Martian meteorites.
Posted inNews
The Origin of the Moon’s Thin Atmosphere Might Be Tiny Impacts
Minuscule meteoroids slamming into the lunar surface could be kicking up most of the atoms that make up the lunar exosphere.
Posted inNews
Parts of Mars Might Be Younger Than We Thought
Data from InSight’s seismometer suggest more impactors strike the Red Planet than expected.
Posted inNews
Small Stars Produce Mighty UV Flares
Stronger-than-expected ultraviolet flares could either provide exoplanets the sparks of life or prevent them from having life at all.