ScienceDaily: Solar System News

Mars water-ice clouds are key to odd thermal rhythm

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:58:58 EDT

Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have found that temperatures in the Martian atmosphere regularly rise and fall not just once each day, but twice.

Marks on Martian dunes may be tracks of dry-ice sleds

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:51:51 EDT

NASA research indicates hunks of frozen carbon dioxide -- dry ice -- may glide down some Martian sand dunes on cushions of gas similar to miniature hovercraft, plowing furrows as they go. Researchers deduced this process could explain one enigmatic class of gullies seen on Martian sand dunes by examining images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and performing experiments on sand dunes in Utah and California.

Martian clay contains chemical implicated in the origin of life, astrobiologists find

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:01:01 EDT

Researchers have discovered high concentrations of boron in a Martian meteorite. When present in its oxidized form (borate), boron may have played a key role in the formation of RNA, one of the building blocks for life.

Mars rover opportunity trekking toward more layers

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:32:32 EDT

Approaching its 10th anniversary of leaving Earth, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is on the move again, trekking to a new study area still many weeks away. The destination, called "Solander Point," offers Opportunity access to a much taller stack of geological layering than the area where the rover has worked for the past 20 months, called "Cape York." Both areas are raised segments of the western rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter.

Radar movies highlight asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:30:30 EDT

Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a second, longer, more refined movie clip of asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon. The 55 individual images used in the movie were generated from data collected at Goldstone on June 1, 2013.

Astronomers gear up to discover Earth-like planets

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:08:08 EDT

Dust clouds around stars are thought to hide many undiscovered planets with conditions suitable for life, but observations have been hampered by the fact that only the brightest such clouds can be detected with current technology. Astronomers are developing a technique to detect faint dust clouds, many of which might hide Earth-like planets.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover nears turning point

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:03:03 EDT

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission is approaching its biggest turning point since landing its rover, Curiosity, inside Mars' Gale Crater last summer. Curiosity is finishing investigations in an area smaller than a football field where it has been working for six months, and it will soon shift to a distance-driving mode headed for an area about 5 miles (8 kilometers) away, at the base Mount Sharp.

Cassini sees precursors to aerosol haze on Saturn's largest moon, Titan

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:58:58 EDT

Scientists working with data from NASA's Cassini mission have confirmed the presence of a population of complex hydrocarbons in the upper atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, that later evolve into the components that give the moon a distinctive orange-brown haze. The presence of these complex, ringed hydrocarbons, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), explains the origin of the aerosol particles found in the lowest haze layer that blankets Titan's surface. Scientists think these PAH compounds aggregate into larger particles as they drift downward.

Saturn's metal-poor 'cousin' discovered with little telescope

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:35:35 EDT

Astronomers have discovered a hot Saturn-like planet in another solar system 700 light-years away.

Pebbly rocks testify to old streambed on Mars

Thu, 30 May 2013 15:05:05 EDT

Detailed analysis and review have borne out researchers' initial interpretation of pebble-containing slabs that NASA's Mars rover Curiosity investigated last year: They are part of an ancient streambed. The rocks are the first ever found on Mars that contain streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of the gravels embedded in these conglomerate rocks -- from the size of sand particles to the size of golf balls -- enabled researchers to calculate the depth and speed of the water that once flowed at this location.

Radiation measured by NASA's Curiosity on voyage to Mars has implications for future human missions

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:59:59 EDT

Measurements taken by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission as it delivered the Curiosity rover to Mars in 2012 are providing NASA the information it needs to design systems to protect human explorers from radiation exposure on deep-space expeditions in the future.

Asteroid has its own moon, NASA radar reveals

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:53:53 EDT

A sequence of radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 -- obtained by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif. -- reveals that it is a binary asteroid. In the near-Earth population, about 16 percent of asteroids that are about 655 feet (200 meters) or larger are binary or triple systems.

Asteroids provide sustainable resource, study finds

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:48:48 EDT

The prospects of a robotic manufacturing base operating off Earth is not as far-fetched as it used to be according to a study published by a team of NASA researchers. Because asteroids are loaded with minerals that are rare on Earth, near-Earth asteroids and the asteroid belt could become the mining centers for remotely operated excavators and processing machinery. In 20 years, an industry barely imagined now could be sending refined materials, rare metals and even free, clean energy to Earth from asteroids and other bodies.

One of the moon's mysteries solved: Origin of mascon basins

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:20:20 EDT

A mystery of the moon that imperiled astronauts and spacecraft on lunar missions has been solved. Large concentrations of mass lurk on the lunar surface that can change the gravity field and either pull a spacecraft in or push it off course. Scientists have determined the origin of these mass concentrations.

Ancient streambed found on surface of Mars

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:20:20 EDT

Rounded pebbles on Mars represent the first on-site evidence of sustained water flows on the red planet, according to a new study.

Cassini finds hints of activity at Saturn moon Dione

Wed, 29 May 2013 21:51:51 EDT

From a distance, most of the Saturnian moon Dione resembles a bland cueball. Thanks to close-up images of a 500-mile-long (800-kilometer-long) mountain on the moon from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found more evidence for the idea that Dione was likely active in the past. It could still be active now.

NASA's WISE mission finds 'lost' asteroid family members

Wed, 29 May 2013 21:49:49 EDT

Data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to a new and improved family tree for asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers used millions of infrared snapshots from the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE all-sky survey, called NEOWISE, to identify 28 new asteroid families. The snapshots also helped place thousands of previously hidden and uncategorized asteroids into families for the first time. The findings are a critical step in understanding the origins of asteroid families, and the collisions thought to have created these rocky clans.

Bacterium from Canadian high Arctic offers clues to possible life on Mars

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:38:38 EDT

The recent discovery of a bacterium that is able to thrive at minus 15 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth, is exciting because it offers clues about some of the necessary preconditions for microbial life on Mars.

Forecast for Saturn's moon Titan: Wild weather could be ahead

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:32:32 EDT

Saturn's moon Titan might be in for some wild weather as it heads into its spring and summer, if two new models are correct. Scientists think that as the seasons change in Titan's northern hemisphere, waves could ripple across the moon's hydrocarbon seas, and hurricanes could begin to swirl over these areas, too. The model predicting waves tries to explain data from the moon obtained so far by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Both models help mission team members plan when and where to look for unusual atmospheric disturbances as Titan summer approaches.

NASA's IRIS mission readies for a new challenge

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:43:43 EDT

NASA is getting ready to launch a new mission, a mission to observe a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere that powers its dynamic million-degree outer atmosphere and drives the solar wind. In late June 2013, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. IRIS will advance our understanding of the interface region, a region in the lower atmosphere of the sun where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated. Such emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

NASA Mars rover Curiosity drills second rock target

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:32:32 EDT

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland." Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars.

Mars rover Opportunity examines clay clues in rock

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:06:06 EDT

NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.

Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:09:09 EDT

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.

NASA's asteroid sample return mission moves into development

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:59:59 EDT

NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.

Weather on the outer planets only goes so deep

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:56:56 EDT

What is the long-range weather forecast for the giant planets Uranus and Neptune? These planets are home to extreme winds blowing at speeds of over 1000 km/hour, hurricane-like storms as large around as Earth, immense weather systems that last for years and fast-flowing jet streams. Researchers set an upper limit for the thickness of jet streams on Uranus and Neptune.

Asteroid 1998 QE2 to sail past Earth is nine times larger than cruise ship

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:53:53 EDT

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter) -- or larger -- radar telescope at their disposal.

New craters abound: Mars camera reveals hundreds of impacts each year

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:50:50 EDT

Taking before and after pictures of the Martian terrain, researchers have identified nearly 250 fresh impact craters on the Red Planet. The results provide scientists with a better yardstick to estimate how frequently craters are blasted on Mars, allowing them to assess recently formed features with greater accuracy.

Scientists shape first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:39:39 EDT

Scientists have created the first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan, giving researchers a valuable tool for learning more about one of the most Earthlike and interesting worlds in the solar system.

Entrepreneur giving space shuttle truss new uses

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:11:11 EDT

A truss design devised to help workers process space shuttles continues to find new uses as a space shuttle engineer-turned-entrepreneur adapts it to everything from a solar-powered electric generator to a mobile cellphone tower.

NASA Curiosity rover team selects second drilling target on NASA

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:33:33 EDT

The team operating NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has selected a second target rock for drilling and sampling. The rover will set course to the drilling location in coming days.

Water on Moon, Earth came from same primitive meteorites

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:21:21 EDT

The water found on the moon, like that on Earth, came from small meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites in the first 100 million years or so after the solar system formed, researchers from have found.

Moon and Earth have common water source

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:20 EDT

New research finds that water inside the moon's mantle comes from the same source as water on Earth. The Moon is thought to have formed after a giant impact to a still-forming Earth 4.5 million years ago. These new findings suggest that Earth may have had water at the time of that impact, and some of that water may have been transferred to the moon.

NASA's Spitzer puts planets in a petri dish

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:10:10 EDT

Our galaxy is teeming with a wild variety of planets. In addition to our solar system's eight near-and-dear planets, there are more than 800 so-called exoplanets known to circle stars beyond our sun. One of the first "species" of exoplanets to be discovered is the hot Jupiters, also known as roasters. These are gas giants like Jupiters, but they orbit closely to their stars, blistering under the heat. Thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers are beginning to dissect this exotic class of planets, revealing raging winds and other aspects of their turbulent nature.

Telling time on Saturn: Undergraduate student shows how planet's magnetosphere changes with the seasons

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:49:49 EDT

An undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn's magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify the length of a Saturn day and could alter our understanding of the Earth's magnetosphere.

Studying meteorites may reveal Mars' secrets of life

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:32:32 EDT

In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists has examined a meteorite that formed on the Red Planet more than a billion years ago.

Saturn's youthful appearance explained

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:15:15 EDT

As planets age they become darker and cooler. Saturn, however, is much brighter than expected for a planet of its age -- a question that has puzzled scientists since the late 1960s. New research has revealed how Saturn keeps itself looking young and hot.

Mars Opportunity rover in standby as commanding moratorium ends

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:27:27 EDT

During a moratorium on commanding this month while Mars passed nearly behind the sun -- a phase called solar conjunction -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered a type of standby mode.

Herschel completes its 'cool' journey in space

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:24:24 EDT

The Herschel observatory, a European space telescope for which NASA helped build instruments and process data, has stopped making observations after running out of liquid coolant as expected. The European Space Agency mission, launched almost four years ago, revealed the universe's "coolest" secrets by observing the frigid side of planet, star and galaxy formation.

NASA probe gets close-up views of large hurricane on Saturn

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:14:14 EDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. In high-resolution pictures and video, scientists see the hurricane's eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds at the outer edge of the hurricane are traveling 330 mph(150 meters per second). The hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as the hexagon.

NASA probe observes meteors colliding with Saturn's rings

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:46:46 EDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of small meteoroids breaking into streams of rubble and crashing into Saturn's rings. These observations make Saturn's rings the only location besides Earth, the moon and Jupiter where scientists and amateur astronomers have been able to observe impacts as they occur. Studying the impact rate of meteoroids from outside the Saturnian system helps scientists understand how different planet systems in our solar system formed.

TRAPPIST participated in the detection of ten percent of all transiting exoplanets known to date

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:32:32 EDT

Among the many planets detected orbiting other stars (exoplanets) over the last twenty years, a little less than three hundred periodically pass in front of their star. This is what astronomers call a planetary transit. Exoplanets that "transit" their stars are key objects for the study of other planetary systems, because they are the only planets beyond our solar system that can be studied in detail, both in terms of their physical parameters (mass, radius, orbital parameters) and their atmospheric properties (thermal structure, dynamics, composition).

Jupiter's atmosphere still contains water supplied by the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:23:23 EDT

Researchers are reporting Herschel observations of water in Jupiter's stratosphere. It is a clear remnant of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact on Jupiter nearly 20 years ago.

Grains of sand from ancient supernova found in meteorites: Supernova may have been the one that triggered the formation of the solar system

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:12:12 EDT

Scientists have discovered two tiny grains of silica (SiO2; the most common constituent of sand) in meteorites that fell to earth in Antarctica. Because of their isotopic composition these two grains are thought to be pure samples from a massive star that exploded before the birth of the solar system, perhaps the supernova whose explosion is thought to have triggered the collapse of a giant molecular cloud, giving birth to the Sun.

Three super-Earth-size planets found in 'habitable zone'

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:29:29 EDT

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the "habitable zone," the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. The Kepler-62 system has five planets; 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e and 62f. The Kepler-69 system has two planets; 69b and 69c. Kepler-62e, 62f and 69c are the super-Earth-sized planets.

New techniques allow discovery of smallest super-Earth exoplanets

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:24:24 EDT

New research has perhaps the smallest super-earth planet in its host star habitable zone. Kepler 62f is a small, probably rocky planet orbiting a sun-like star in the Lyra constellation. The planet is about 1.4 times the size of Earth, receives about half as much solar flux, or heat and radiation, as Earth and circles its star in 267.3 (Earth) days.

New Earth-like planets found orbiting a Sun-like star

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:09:09 EDT

A team of scientists has discovered two Earth-like planets in the habitable orbit of a Sun-like star. Using observations gathered by NASA's Kepler Mission, the team found five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62. Four of these planets are so-called super-Earths, larger than our own planet, but smaller than even the smallest ice giant planet in our Solar System. These new super-Earths have radii of 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.9 times that of Earth. In addition, one of the five was a roughly Mars-sized planet, half the size of Earth.

How to target an asteroid

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:20:20 EDT

Like many of his colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., Shyam Bhaskaran is working a lot with asteroids these days. And also like many of his colleagues, the deep space navigator devotes a great deal of time to crafting, and contemplating, computer-generated 3-D models of these intriguing nomads of the solar system. But while many of his coworkers are calculating asteroids' past, present and future locations in the cosmos, zapping them with the world's most massive radar dishes, or considering how to rendezvous and perhaps even gently nudge an asteroid into lunar orbit, Bhaskaran thinks about how to collide with one.

For the very first time, two spacecraft will fly in formation with millimeter precision

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:42:42 EDT

A new project aims to demonstrate that two satellites can move as one single object with sub-millimeter precision. This configuration will enable the creation of enormous space telescopes with the lens and detector hundreds of meters apart.

Titan's methane: Going, going, soon to be gone?

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:41:41 EDT

By tracking a part of the surface of Saturn's moon Titan over several years, NASA's Cassini mission has found a remarkable longevity to the hydrocarbon lakes on the moon's surface.

NASA-funded asteroid tracking sensor passes key test

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:38:38 EDT

An infrared sensor that could improve NASA's future detecting and tracking of asteroids and comets has passed a critical design test.

Where are the best windows into Europa's interior?

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:34:34 EDT

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa exposes material churned up from inside the moon and also material resulting from matter and energy coming from above. If you want to learn about the deep saltwater ocean beneath this unusual world's icy shell -- as many people do who are interested in possible extraterrestrial life -- you might target your investigation of the surface somewhere that has more of the up-from-below stuff and less of the down-from-above stuff.

Update: Comet to make close flyby of Red Planet in October 2014

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:32:32 EDT

New observations of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) have allowed NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. to further refine the comet's orbit.

Ice cloud heralds fall at Titan's south pole

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:31:31 EDT

An ice cloud taking shape over Titan's south pole is the latest sign that the change of seasons is setting off a cascade of radical changes in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Made from an unknown ice, this type of cloud has long hung over Titan's north pole, where it is now fading, according to new observations.

NASA Mars Orbiter images may show 1971 Soviet lander

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:33:33 EDT

Hardware from a spacecraft that the Soviet Union landed on Mars in 1971 might appear in images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. While following news about Mars and NASA's Curiosity rover, Russian citizen enthusiasts found four features in a five-year-old image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that resemble four pieces of hardware from the Soviet Mars 3 mission: the parachute, heat shield, terminal retrorocket and lander. A follow-up image by the orbiter from last month shows the same features.

NASA's asteroid initiative: Robotically capture small near-Earth asteroid and explore it

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:34:34 EDT

NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it.

Blame it on the rain (from Saturn's rings): More charged water particles fall than thought

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:23:23 EDT

A new study tracks the "rain" of charged water particles into the atmosphere of Saturn and finds there is more of it and it falls across larger areas of the planet than previously thought. The study, whose observations were funded by NASA and whose analysis was led by the University of Leicester, England, reveals that the rain influences the composition and temperature structure of parts of Saturn's upper atmosphere.

Retired star found with planets and debris disc

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:12:12 EDT

The European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt -- produced by colliding comets or asteroids -- orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system.

Remaining Martian atmosphere still dynamic

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:29:29 EDT

Mars has lost much of its original atmosphere, but what's left remains quite active, recent findings from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity indicate, scientists report. Evidence has strengthened that Mars lost much of its original atmosphere by a process of gas escaping from the top of the atmosphere.

How carbon moves within planet plays big role in planetary atmosphere formation

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:29:29 EDT

A new study suggests that the way carbon moves from within a planet to the surface plays a big role in the evolution of a planet's atmosphere. Mars, which likely released much of its carbon as methane, might have been warm enough to support liquid water.

Scientists to Jupiter's moon Io: Your volcanoes are in the wrong place

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:02:02 EDT

Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the Solar System, with hundreds of volcanoes, some erupting lava fountains up to 250 miles high. However, concentrations of volcanic activity are significantly displaced from where they are expected to be based on models that predict how the moon's interior is heated, according to researchers.