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Categories: Space: The Solar System
Published Supercomputer simulations could unlock mystery of Moon's formation


Astronomers have taken a step towards understanding how the Moon might have formed out of a giant collision between the early Earth and another massive object 4.5 billion years ago.
Published Growing interest in Moon resources could cause tension


An international team of scientists has identified a problem with the growing interest in extractable resources on the moon: there aren't enough of them to go around. With no international policies or agreements to decide 'who gets what from where,' scientists believe tensions, overcrowding, and quick exhaustion of resources to be one possible future for moon mining projects.
Published Mining rocks in orbit could aid deep space exploration


The first mining experiments conducted in space could pave the way for new technologies to help humans explore and establish settlements on distant worlds, a study suggests.
Published New mineral discovered in moon meteorite


The high-pressure mineral Donwilhelmsite, recently discovered in the lunar meteorite Oued Awlitis 001 from Apollo missions, is important for understanding the inner structure of Earth.
Published New remote sensing technique could bring key planetary mineral into focus


The mineral olivine, thought to be a major component inside all planetary bodies, holds secrets about the early formation of the solar system, and a team of researchers has a new way to study it remotely.
Published Where were Jupiter and Saturn born?


New work reveals the likely original locations of Saturn and Jupiter. These findings refine our understanding of the forces that determined our Solar System's unusual architecture, including the ejection of an additional planet between Saturn and Uranus, ensuring that only small, rocky planets, like Earth, formed inward of Jupiter.
Published Tiny moon shadows may harbor hidden stores of ice


Hidden pockets of water could be much more common on the surface of the moon than scientists once suspected, according to new research.
Published NASA's SOFIA discovers water on sunlit surface of Moon


NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places.
Published Data reveals evidence of molecular absorption in the atmosphere of a hot Neptune


An international team of scientists recently measured the spectrum of the atmosphere of a rare hot Neptune exoplanet, whose discovery by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was announced just last month.
Published New study details atmosphere on 'hot Neptune' 260 light years away that 'shouldn't exist'


Astronomers have crunched data from NASA's TESS and Spitzer space telescopes to portray for the first time the atmosphere of a highly unusual kind of exoplanet dubbed a 'hot Neptune.'
Published Magnetic fields on the moon are the remnant of an ancient core dynamo


A long discussed theory about the local magnetic spots of the moon suggests that they are the result of magnetization processes caused by impacts of massive bodies on the moon surface. A new study now shows that the Moon must have had an internal core dynamo in the past.
Published The mountains of Pluto are snowcapped, but not for the same reasons as on Earth


In 2015, the New Horizons space probe discovered spectacular snowcapped mountains on Pluto, which are strikingly similar to mountains on Earth. Such a landscape had never before been observed elsewhere in the Solar System. Scientists determined that the methane snow could only appear at the peaks of Pluto's mountains high enough to reach this enriched zone that the air contains enough methane for it to condense.
Published Looking for pieces of Venus? Try the moon


A growing body of research suggests the planet Venus may have had an Earth-like environment billions of years ago, with water and a thin atmosphere.
Published Moon's magnetic crust research sees scientists debunk long-held theory


New international research into the Moon provides scientists with insights as to how and why its crust is magnetized, essentially 'debunking' one of the previous longstanding theories.
Published Explaining the formation of a hexagon storm on Saturn


Researchers create a new 3D model that could explain the formation of a hexagon storm on Saturn -- a hurricane about 20,000 miles in diameter.
Published Venus might be habitable today, if not for Jupiter


Venus might not be a sweltering, waterless hellscape today, if Jupiter hadn't altered its orbit around the sun, according to new research.
Published Cosmic diamonds formed during gigantic planetary collisions


Geoscientists have found the largest extraterrestrial diamonds ever discovered - a few tenths of a millimeter in size nevertheless - inside meteorites. Together with an international team of researchers, they have now been able to prove that these diamonds formed in the early period of our solar system when minor planets collided together or with large asteroids. These new data disprove the theory that they originated deep inside planets - similar to diamonds formed on Earth - at least the size of Mercury.
Published First measurements of radiation levels on the moon


In the coming years and decades, various nations want to explore the moon, and plan to send astronauts there again for this purpose. But on our inhospitable satellite, space radiation poses a significant risk. Scientists report for the first time on time-resolved measurements of the radiation on the moon. The measurements show an equivalent dose rate of about 60 microsieverts per hour. In comparison, on a long-haul flight from Frankfurt to New York, it is about 5 to 10 times lower, and on the ground well over 200 times lower.
Published Remnants of an ancient asteroid shed new light on the early solar system


Researchers have shaken up a once accepted timeline for cataclysmic events in the early solar system. Geological and geochemical records indicate that the Earth-Moon system experienced a period of frequent and cataclysmic impacts from asteroids and other bodies. It was thought that this period had a relatively sudden onset, but the researchers have found evidence that this bombardment period may have started much earlier, and decreased in intensity over time.
Published Venus' ancient layered, folded rocks point to volcanic origin


Researchers has found that some of the oldest terrain on Venus, known as tesserae, have layering that seems consistent with volcanic activity. The finding could provide insights into the enigmatic planet's geological history.