Mercury | The Daily Space

Moon Rock Samples Show Signs of Late Volcanism

Oct 8, 2021 | Active Galaxies, Climate Change, Comets, Daily Space, Earth, Mercury, Moon, Sky Watching, Spacecraft, Stars

An analysis of the most recent sample taken from the Moon and returned by the Chang’e-5 mission shows that the basaltic rock is about two billion years old. This age implies a previously unknown heat source in the region. Plus, how plants and animals record climate change and this week’s What’s Up.

Cosmic Billiards Leads to Inner Planetary Growth

Sep 29, 2021 | Black Holes (Stellar), Climate Change, Daily Space, Earth, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Our Solar System, Stars, Venus

The inner solar system was a wild and wooly place as the planets were forming, and new research shows that the collisions that formed Earth and Venus were likely of the hit-and-run variety. Plus, polar ice loss warps the planet, and a black hole eats a star.

Supervolcanoes Remain Active Post-Eruption Longer Than Thought

Sep 17, 2021 | Daily Space, Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Sky Watching, Venus

Research into the Toba caldera and its super-eruption 75,000 years ago shows that magma continued to flow out of the volcano for thousands of years after the main eruption event. Plus, magma and volcanoes throughout our solar system as well as our weekly What’s Up segment.

Simple Physics Explains Diamond Shapes of Ryugu and Bennu

Sep 10, 2021 | Asteroids, Daily Space, Dark Matter, Galaxies, Mercury, Sky Watching, White Dwarfs

Using a simple model based on granular physics, like those used for modeling sand or sugar deposits, scientists have recreated the diamond shape of asteroids Ryugu and Bennu in computer simulations. Plus, the origins of loner dwarf galaxies and this week’s What’s Up.

NASA Identifies Possible Lunar Mantle Rocks on Lunar Surface

Aug 6, 2021 | Asteroids, Comets, Daily Space, Earth, Jupiter, Mercury, Moon, Sky Watching, Spacecraft, Stars, Supernovae, Venus, White Dwarfs

Two new studies have possibly identified regions on the Moon’s surface that could contain pieces of the lunar mantle, which would be possible sample targets for the Artemis mission. Plus, Venus gets a double flyby next week, and it’s all about asteroids and meteor showers in this week’s What’s Up.

Rogue Planets Found Near Milky Way’s Core

Jul 16, 2021 | Asteroids, Black Holes (Stellar), Conferences, Daily Space, Earth, Exoplanets, Globular Cluster, Jupiter, Kepler, Mercury, Our Solar System, Stars, Supernovae

Using data collected by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, scientists have found four free-floating, or rogue, planets near the core of the Milky Way. These planets formed in discs in other planetary systems and were thrown out by gravitational interactions with larger planets. Plus, the early solar system, including ancient Earth, Jupiter’s chemistry, and Mercury’s core.