Iron 'snow' helps maintain Mercury's magnetic field, scientists say
New scientific evidence suggests that deep inside the planet Mercury, iron "snow" forms and falls toward the center of the planet, much like snowflakes form in Earth's atmosphere and fall to the ground. view more (2008-05-08)
Jupiter's massive winds likely generated from deep inside its interior, scientists report
A new computer model indicates Jupiter's massive winds are generated from deep within the giant planet's interior, a UCLA scientist and international colleagues report today in the journal Nature. view more (2005-11-14)
Jupiter-like Planets Could Form Around Twin Suns
Life on a planet ruled by two suns might be a little complicated. Two sunrises, two sunsets. Twice the radiation field. view more (2009-01-06)
Surprisingly rapid changes in the Earth's core discovered
In a recent paper published in Nature Geoscience, the geophysicist Mioara MANDEA from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam and her Danish colleague Nils OLSEN from the National Space Institute/DTU Copenhagen, have shown that motions in the fluid in the Earth's core are changing surprisingly fast, and that this, in turn, effects... view more... (2008-07-08)
Lightest exoplanet yet discovered
Well-known exoplanet researcher Michel Mayor today announced the discovery of the lightest exoplanet found so far. The planet, "e", in the famous system Gliese 581, is only about twice the mass of our Earth. view more (2009-04-22)
Scientists Recreate Martian Environment
Scientists at the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre are recreating the hostile environment found on Mars in their laboratory, with a device known as the Martian Environment Simulator (MES). The machine reproduces the temperature, air pressure and unbreathable atmosphere known to exist on Mars. The MES is currently being used to test... view more... (2002-05-31)
And now the weather ... on Mars
Blinding dust storms can seriously ruin your plans for a landing on Mars. ESA is adapting the global climate models that we use to forecast our weather on Earth for the turbulent conditions that Mars offers its future visitors. You could hardly call the weather on Mars pleasant, and presently it is far from predictable. As well as having an... view more... (2002-07-03)
Polarization technique focuses limelight
An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Svetlana Berdyugina of ETH Zurich's Institute of Astronomy, has for the first time ever been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. view more (2007-12-27)
NASA images, White Sands features support a wetter Mars
NASA's announcement yesterday of evidence that water still flows on Mars, at least in brief spurts, demonstrates that the view of Mars as a very dry planet should be reevaluated, says Dawn Sumner, professor of geology at UC Davis. Recent work from by Sumner and graduate student Greg Chavdarian also supports the presence of liquid water near the... view more... (2006-12-08)
Saturn's winds are variable
A team of astrophysicists at the University of the Basque Country has detected, for the first time ever, changes in Saturn's winds. The research has merited front page coverage in the scientific magazine, Nature. The winds blowing around Saturn and Jupiter are special. Unlike those of the rest of the planets, these move in an eastwards direction... view more... (2003-06-09)
Venus comes to life at wavelengths invisible to human eyes
A pale yellow-green dot to the human eye, Earth's twin planet comes to life in the ultraviolet and the infrared. New images taken by instruments on board ESA's Venus Express provide insight into the turbulent atmosphere of our neighbouring planet. view more (2008-12-04)
Four of Saturn's moons parade by their parent
On 24 February 2009, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured a photo sequence of four moons of Saturn passing in front of their parent planet. view more (2009-03-18)
Sign of 'Embryonic Planets' Forming in Nearby Stellar Systems
Astronomers at the University of Rochester are pointing to three nearby stars they say may hold "embryonic planets"-a missing link in planet-formation theories. view more (2007-10-02)
European meeting in Athens fuels future space exploration missions to Mars, Moon
A European Science Foundation (ESF)-led workshop sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) has enabled 88 scientists from 11 European countries to agree on science goals for future Europe's planetary exploration programme; providing the continent with an ambitious roadmap to examine Mars and the Moon. view more (2007-06-01)
Mars Express reveals the Red Planet's volcanic past
A new analysis of impact cratering data from Mars reveals that the planet has undergone a series of global volcanic upheavals. These violent episodes spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpting the landscape that ESA's Mars Express looks down on today. view more (2008-03-17)
Hidden Planet Pushes Star's Ring a Billion Miles Off-Center
A young star's strange elliptical ring of dust likely heralds the presence of an undiscovered Neptune-sized planet, says a University of Rochester astronomer in the latest Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. view more (2007-06-14)
COROT finds exoplanet orbiting Sun-like star
A team of European scientists working with COROT have discovered an exoplanet orbiting a star slightly more massive than the Sun. After just 555 days in orbit, the mission has now observed more than 50 000 stars and is adding significantly to our knowledge of the fundamental workings of stars. view more (2008-07-28)
It may not be long before we see other worlds
WE MAY actually see a planet around a nearby star within the next six months. A team of British astronomers hope to achieve this feat by focusing their search on white dwarfs-dimly glowing stars at the end of their lives. Although more than 80 planets outside our Solar System have been discovered,... view more... (2002-03-06)
Tracking alien turbulences with Venus Express
New images and data from ESA's mission to Venus provide new insights into the turbulent and noxious atmosphere of Earth's sister planet. What causes violent winds and turbulences? Is the surface topography playing a role in the complex global dynamics of the atmosphere? Venus Express is on the case. view more (2007-04-04)
Brown Planetary Geologists Lend Expertise to Mercury Mission
What lies on the uncharted side of mysterious Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system? Brown University students, led by planetary geologist James Head, will study never-before-seen images of Mercury when a NASA spacecraft makes the first visit to Mercury in nearly 33 years. view more (2008-01-14)
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