Planets/Moons

Scientists at the University of Leicester and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory predict next parting of Jupiter's veil of clouds for 2019 A regular pattern of unusual meteorological events at Jupiter's equator has been identified by…

New research from University of Alberta physicists provides the first-ever model of our Moon's rotational dynamics, taking into consideration its solid inner core. Their model helps to explain why, as seen from Earth, the Moon appears to…

New research published in Icarus this week confirms that Saturn is losing its iconic rings at a worst-case-scenario rate. Dr Tom Stallard, Associate Professor in Planetary Astronomy at the University of Leicester and Dr James…

Credit: NASA/Cassini/James O'Donoghue New NASA research confirms that Saturn is losing its iconic rings at the maximum rate estimated from Voyager 1 & 2 observations made decades ago. The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity…

Credit: Illustration by Roberto Molar Candanosa is courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science. Washington, DC-- A team of astronomers has discovered the most-distant body ever observed in our Solar System. It is the first known…

Credit: Chao He In their search for life in solar systems near and far, researchers have often accepted the presence of oxygen in a planet's atmosphere as the surest sign that life may be present there. A new Johns Hopkins study, however,…

Credit: Astronbiology Center A Japan-Spain team has developed a powerful 4-color simultaneous camera named MuSCAT2 for the 1.52-m Telescopio Carlos Sánchez at the Teide Observatory, Canaries, Spain. The instrument aims to find a large…

How a planet's interior could help determine its habitability Humankind's exploration of space has for years pondered one central question: Is there another world somewhere in the universe where human beings could survive? And as…

Credit: NASA, ESA and D. Player (STScI) Fishermen would be puzzled if they netted only big and little fish, but few medium-sized fish. Astronomers likewise have been perplexed in conducting a census of star-hugging extrasolar planets.…

Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Player/STScI The speed and distance at which planets orbit blazing stars can determine each planet's fate--whether the planet remains a longstanding part of its solar system or evaporates into the universe's…