Mercury is a small, rocky world that scientists still understand only in limited detail. Data from two flyby missions show that its surface is made up of a crust low in iron but rich in sulfur. The planet is also in a reduced chemical state, meaning its materials have gained electrons—making it the most reduced […]
Sulfur-rich magmas on Mercury act differently from those on Earth Read More »
Planets such as those in our solar system develop through a bottom-up process, where tiny fragments of rock and ice gradually stick together and grow. However, the more massive a planet becomes, the more difficult it is to account for its formation through this mechanism. Astronomers analyzed 29 Cygni b using NASA’s James Webb Space
Webb reshapes the boundary between planets and stars Read More »
A new study suggests that particles from Earth’s atmosphere have been swept into space by solar wind and deposited on the Moon for billions of years, becoming mixed into its soil. This finding helps explain a long-standing mystery dating back to the Apollo missions, which returned lunar samples containing traces of water, carbon dioxide, helium,
Astronomers say the Moon is absorbing Earth’s atmospheric molecules Read More »
A detailed examination of Bennu’s rocks uncovered a surprising hint that altered the narrative. One of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission’s most surprising discoveries was Bennu’s actual surface. Contrary to earlier Earth-based predictions of many smooth regions, the asteroid revealed itself as a rugged, uneven terrain strewn with massive boulders. “When OSIRIS-REx arrived at Bennu in 2018,
Scientists Crack the Mystery Behind Asteroid Bennu’s Baffling Surface Read More »
Astonished astronomers reported Thursday the discovery of a star whose planets are arranged in an unusual sequence that challenges established scientific understanding, indicating these distant worlds may have formed in a way never observed before. In our Solar System, the four planets nearest the Sun are small and rocky, while the four outer planets are
Astronomers Stunned by the Unusual “Inside-Out” Structure of a Solar System Read More »
NASA’s Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars for almost five years, yet the agency continues to push its capabilities. Recently, NASA announced that Perseverance completed its first drive planned entirely by artificial intelligence. For the demo, NASA used vision-language models (VLMs) to set rover waypoints, a task normally done by humans. The demo ran from
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finishes its First Autonomous, AI-Directed Drive Read More »
An international team, including Cornell’s Jake Turner, developed a method to uncover hidden stellar and exoplanetary signals in archival radio data. Using this technique, scientists have identified new radio bursts from dwarf stars and potentially from exoplanets. The method, Multiplexed Interferometric Radio Spectroscopy (RIMS), reveals some signals linked to star–planet interactions. The findings appeared in
New Radio Method Detects Hidden Dwarf Star Bursts, Hints at Exoplanets Read More »
In the intense conditions of giant planets, water becomes a bizarre, electrically conductive solid buried deep within. Superionic water appears only under some of the most extreme conditions in nature, with temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius and pressures of millions of atmospheres. In this state, oxygen atoms form a solid lattice while hydrogen ions
Deep Inside Uranus and Neptune, Water Exists in a Wholly Unusual Form Read More »
Scientists tied to Rosatom have revealed a plasma engine that could cut Earth–Mars travel to 30–60 days. The announcement has renewed discussion about the future of space exploration and whether such technology could realistically support interplanetary missions. Developed by engineers at the Rosatom Research Institute, the project focuses on nuclear and advanced propulsion systems. Unlike
Russian Scientists Test a Plasma Engine that could Shrink Mars Travel to 30 Days Read More »
An international team from Kanazawa University (Japan), Tohoku University (Japan), LPP (France), and collaborators has shown that chorus emissions—natural electromagnetic waves well-known in Earth’s magnetosphere—also appear in Mercury’s magnetosphere, displaying similar chirping frequency patterns. BepiColombo’s Mio recorded audible plasma waves during six Mercury flybys from 2021 to 2025. Comparison with decades of GEOTAIL data showed
BepiColombo Mio and GEOTAIL Observe Similar Magnetosphere Wave Frequencies Read More »