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Categories: Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms, Space: The Solar System
Published Saturn V was loud but didn't melt concrete


Abundant internet claims about the acoustic power of the Saturn V suggest that it melted concrete and lit grass on fire over a mile away, but such ideas are undeniably false. Researchers used a physics-based model to estimate the rocket's acoustic levels and obtained a value of 203 decibels, which matched the limited data from the 1960s. So, while the Saturn V was extremely loud, that kind of power is nowhere near enough to melt concrete or start grass fires.
Published Breaking in a new planet


Impacts affect the porosity and structure of moons and planets more dramatically than scientists suspected, increasing their potential habitability for life. Studying how those impacts affect planetary bodies, asteroids, moons and other rocks in space helps planetary scientists understand extraplanetary geology, especially where to look for precious matter including water, ice and even, potentially, microbial life.
Published Mars model provides method for landing humans on Red Planet


A mathematical model developed by space medicine experts could be used to predict whether an astronaut can safely travel to Mars and fulfill their mission duties upon stepping foot on the Red Planet.
Published Harvesting resources on Mars with plasmas


Researchers have devised a plasma-based way to produce and separate oxygen within the Martian environment. It's a complementary approach to NASA's Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment and may deliver high rates of molecule production per kilogram of instrumentation sent to space. The team presents the method for harnessing and processing local resources to generate products on Mars.
Published Hubble sees red supergiant star Betelgeuse slowly recovering after blowing its top


The star Betelgeuse appears as a brilliant, ruby-red, twinkling spot of light in the upper right shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter. But when viewed close up, astronomers know it as a seething monster with a 400-day-long heartbeat of regular pulsations. This aging star is classified as a supergiant because it has swelled up to an astonishing diameter of approximately 1 billion miles. If placed at the center of our solar system it would reach out to the orbit of Jupiter. The star's ultimate fate is to explode as a supernova.
Published One more clue to the Moon's origin


Researchers discover the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases from the Earth's mantle. The discovery represents a significant piece of the puzzle towards understanding how the Moon and, potentially, the Earth and other celestial bodies were formed.
Published Planet formation: ALMA detects gas in a circumplanetary disk


Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study planet formation have made the first-ever detection of gas in a circumplanetary disk. What's more, the detection also suggests the presence of a very young exoplanet.
Published Scientists discover places on the moon where it's always 'sweater weather'


A team led by planetary scientists has discovered shady locations within pits on the moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 degrees Fahrenheit. The pits, and caves to which they may lead, would make safer, more thermally stable base camps for lunar exploration and long-term habitation than the rest of the moon's surface, which heats up to 260 degrees during the day and drops to 280 degrees below zero at night.
Published Explosive volcanic eruption produced rare mineral on Mars


Planetary scientists have an answer to a mystery that's puzzled the Mars research community since NASA's Curiosity rover discovered a mineral called tridymite in Gale Crater in 2016.
Published Why Jupiter doesn't have rings like Saturn


Because it's bigger, Jupiter ought to have larger, more spectacular rings than Saturn has. But new research shows Jupiter's massive moons prevent that vision from lighting up the night sky.
Published Global map of lunar hydrogen: Data confirms role water played in moon's formation



Using data collected over two decades ago, scientists have compiled the first complete map of hydrogen abundances on the Moon's surface. The map identifies two types of lunar materials containing enhanced hydrogen and corroborates previous ideas about lunar hydrogen and water, including findings that water likely played a role in the Moon's original magma-ocean formation and solidification.
Published What a Martian meteorite can teach us about Earth's origins


What do Mars and Iceland have in common? These days, not so much. But more than 4.5 billion years ago, it's possible the Red Planet had a crust comparable to Iceland today. This discovery, hidden in the oldest martian fragments found on Earth, could provide information about our planet that was lost over billions of years of geological movement and could help explain why the Earth developed into a planet that sustains a broad diversity of life and Mars did not.
Published Porosity of the moon's crust reveals bombardment history


Researchers find that, early in its history, the moon was highly porous, which was likely a result of early, massive impacts that shattered much of the crust. They reached their conclusions with simulations and data from NASA's GRAIL mission.
Published Scientists map sulfur residue on Jupiter's icy moon Europa


A team has used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe Jupiter's moon, Europa, at ultraviolet wavelengths, filling in a 'gap' in the various wavelengths used to observe this icy water world. The team's near-global UV maps show concentrations of sulfur dioxide on Europa's trailing side.
Published Scientists identify a possible source for Charon's red cap


Scientists combined data from NASA's New Horizons mission with novel laboratory experiments and exospheric modeling to reveal the likely composition of the red cap on Pluto's moon Charon and how it may have formed. This first-ever description of Charon's dynamic methane atmosphere using new experimental data provides a fascinating glimpse into the origins of this moon's red spot as described in two recent articles.
Published How elliptical craters could shed light on age of Saturn's moons


A new study describes how unique populations of craters on two of Saturn's moons could help indicate the satellites' age and the conditions of their formation. Using data from NASA's Cassini mission, researchers have surveyed elliptical craters on Saturn's moons Tethys and Dione for this study.
Published A blueprint for life forms on Mars?


Microbes taken from surface sediment near Lost Hammer Spring, Canada, about 900 km south of the North Pole, could provide a blueprint for the kind of life forms that may once have existed, or may still exist, on Mars.
Published Martian meteorite upsets planet formation theory


A new study of an old meteorite contradicts current thinking about how rocky planets like the Earth and Mars acquire volatile elements such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and noble gases as they form.
Published Dead star's cannibalism of its planetary system is most far-reaching ever witnessed


The violent death throes of a nearby star so thoroughly disrupted its planetary system that the dead star left behind -- known as a white dwarf -- is sucking in debris from both the system's inner and outer reaches, astronomers report.
Published No signs (yet) of life on Venus


The unusual behavior of sulphur in Venus' atmosphere cannot be explained by an 'aerial' form of extra-terrestrial life, according to a new study.