Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
A team of planetary scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder has shed new light on the dynamics behind Mars' infamous dust storms. These events, which sometimes enshroud the entire planet in fine particles, may be triggered by warmer and sunnier conditions on the Martian surface. Lead researcher Heshani Pieris emphasized the importance of understanding these storms for the safety

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
In 1989, NASA's Voyager mission made history by capturing humanity's first close-up glimpse of Neptune, completing its exploration of the solar system's four giant outer planets. Since their 1977 launches, the twin spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, revealed Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to be far more intricate than scientists had previously imagined, prompting continued exploration.

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet in the solar system, continues to intrigue planetary researchers with its unique composition and structure, which differ significantly from Earth's Moon despite surface similarities. BepiColombo, a collaborative mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aims to resolve these mysteries. Launched in 2018, th

Hamden CT (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
When you bake a loaf of bread or a batch of muffins, you put the dough into a pan. As the dough bakes in the oven, it expands into the baking pan. Any chocolate chips or blueberries in the muffin batter become farther away from each other as the muffin batter expands. The expansion of the universe is, in some ways, similar. But this analogy gets one thing wrong - while the dough expands in

On 1 December 2024, BepiColombo flew past Mercury for the fifth time. During this flyby, BepiColombo became the first spacecraft ever to observe Mercury in mid-infrared light. The new images reveal variations in temperature and composition across the planet's cratered surface.