Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Space: The Solar System
Published

Alaskan seismometers record the northern lights      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An aurora sightseeing tour leader in Alaska, was lucky enough to photograph a 'eruption' of brilliant pink light in the night skies one night in February.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Hubble sees summertime on Saturn      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Saturn is truly the lord of the rings in this latest snapshot from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, taken on July 4, 2020, when the opulent giant world was 839 million miles from Earth. A new Saturn image was taken during summer in the planet's northern hemisphere.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Scientists discover volcanoes on Venus are still active      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study identified 37 recently active volcanic structures on Venus. The study provides some of the best evidence yet that Venus is still a geologically active planet.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Higher concentration of metal in Moon's craters provides new insights to its origin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There has been considerable debate over how the Moon was formed. The popular hypothesis contends that the Moon was formed by a Mars-sized body colliding with Earth's upper crust which is poor in metals. But new research suggests the Moon's subsurface is more metal-rich than previously thought, providing new insights that could challenge our understanding of that process.

Space: The Solar System
Published

First exposed planetary core discovered allows glimpse inside other worlds      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The surviving core of a gas giant has been discovered orbiting a distant star, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the interior of a planet.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Orb hidden in distant dust is 'infant' Neptune-size planet      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The discovery could help astronomers understand how planets like Earth form and evolve.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Evidence supports 'hot start' scenario and early ocean formation on Pluto      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study suggests that Pluto and other large Kuiper belt objects started out with liquid oceans which have been slowly freezing over time.

Space: Exploration Space: The Solar System
Published

Speed of space storms key to protecting astronauts and satellites from radiation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Measuring the speed of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) as they erupt from the sun, in addition to their size, found to be crucial in providing accurate early warnings that keep astronauts and technology safe.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Atmospheric tidal waves maintain Venus' super-rotation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international research team has revealed that the 'super-rotation' on Venus is maintained near the equator by atmospheric tidal waves formed from solar heating on the planet's dayside and cooling on its nightside.

Space: The Solar System
Published

What makes Saturn's atmosphere so hot      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft found that electric currents, triggered by interactions between solar winds and charged particles from Saturn's moons, spark the auroras and heat the planet's upper atmosphere.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Mysteries of Uranus' oddities explained      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Uranus is a planetary oddity. Our Solar System's planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction, and do so with their axes of rotation - the way they spin locally - orientated roughly perpendicular to their orbits. Uranus, however, is uniquely tipped over, with its axis almost parallel to its orbit. Uranus' moons and rings are also orientated this way, suggesting they formed during a cataclysmic impact that tipped it over early in its history.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Mercury's scorching daytime heat may help it make its own ice at caps      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Despite Mercury's 400-degree Celsius daytime heat, there is ice at its caps. And now a study shows how that Vulcan scorch probably helps the planet closest to the sun make some of that ice.

Space: Exploration Space: The Solar System
Published

Safety zone saves giant moons from fatal plunge      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Numerical simulations showed that the temperature gradient in the disk of gas around a young gas giant planet could play a critical role in the development of a satellite system dominated by a single large moon, similar to Titan around Saturn. Researchers found that dust in the circumplanetary disk can create a 'safety zone,' which keeps the moon from falling into the planet as the system evolves.

Space: The Solar System
Published

What if mysterious 'cotton candy' planets actually sport rings?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Some of the extremely low-density, 'cotton candy like' exoplanets called super-puffs may actually have rings, according to new research.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Life on Titan cannot rely on cell membranes, according to computational simulations      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have made a new contribution to the ongoing search into the possibility of life on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Using quantum mechanical calculations, they have shown that azotosomes, a proposed alternative to cell membranes, could not form under the conditions there.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Examining ice giants of our solar system      (via sciencedaily.com) 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will unlock secrets of the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Large exoplanet could have the right conditions for life      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have found an exoplanet more than twice the size of Earth to be potentially habitable, opening the search for life to planets significantly larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Galactic cosmic rays affect Titan's atmosphere      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Planetary scientists have revealed the secrets of the atmosphere of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. The team found a chemical footprint in Titan's atmosphere indicating that cosmic rays coming from outside the Solar System affect the chemical reactions involved in the formation of nitrogen-bearing organic molecules. This is the first observational confirmation of such processes, and impacts the understanding of the intriguing environment of Titan.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Pluto's icy heart makes winds blow      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen controls Pluto's winds and may give rise to features on its surface, according to a new study.

Space: The Solar System
Published

'Cold Neptune' and two temperate super-Earths found orbiting nearby stars      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 'cold Neptune' and two potentially habitable worlds are part of a cache of five newly discovered exoplanets and eight exoplanet candidates found orbiting nearby red dwarf stars. The two potentially habitable planets are among the nearest stars to our own Sun, making them prime targets for observations by next-generation space- and land-based telescopes.