Topic: Solar Systems
Venus Volcanism is Erupting in the Literature

Venus Volcanism is Erupting in the Literature

Another big topic of discussion at LPSC seemed to be Venus. I say "seemed" because I’m sure the actual big topic of discussion was proposed budget cuts, which could be as much as 50%, but there was no definitive information on budget cuts, so that is more a big topic for gossip than for actual fact-based discussion. So let’s look at Venus. The most recent missions to Venus were Japan’s Venus Climate Orbiter, which studied the Venusian cloud cover from 2015 to 2024, and ESA’s Venus Express, which also studied Venus’s atmosphere, and orbited from 2006 to 2015. Together, these 2 missions...

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Closer Look: Mars Occupies the Science Journals

Closer Look: Mars Occupies the Science Journals

Talk of Mars has been seeping into just about every area of media, as rumors swirl that NASA’s current plans to return humans to the Moon will be replaced with plans to fly directly to Mars. Given that we can’t currently keep people alive on Mars, I’m really hoping...

Suni Williams Breaks Women’s Spacewalk Record

Suni Williams Breaks Women’s Spacewalk Record

NASA astronaut Suni Williams conducts spacewalk The US Human presence in space is supposed to be flying back and forth form the ISS on a combo of SpaceX and Boeing crew capsules. Unfortunately, was undermined by it’s own failures to deliver on time and a myriad of...

Protecting Historic Sites on Earth, Moon, and Mars

Protecting Historic Sites on Earth, Moon, and Mars

Dominion Observatory in Ottawa Our planet is dotted with old observatories and astronomical research centers that are no longer capable of doing science. Either their equipment is too small, their skies too bright, or both. Both is always an option. I've been lucky...

Ryugu Sample Supports Invading Life

Ryugu Sample Supports Invading Life

Ryugu samples showing signs of bacteria contamination. Trying to understand the evolution of planets and life is really a driving motivation for a lot of science and science fiction. Landing squarely in the “I think I read a horror story about this,” scientists found...

Io Doesn’t Actually Have a Gooey Center

Io Doesn’t Actually Have a Gooey Center

Collapsed volcanoes form large, dark spots on Io's surface, NASA/JPL/USGS One of our greatest frustrations as a science, is we astronomical and planetary scientists can’t do the same kind of experiments that other kinds of scientists get to do. We look at things from...

Dark Comet Numbers on the Rise

Dark Comet Numbers on the Rise

Oumuamua illustration by Stuart Rankin Humans like to label things. In general, this works out for us. If you go to a furniture store and ask for a sofa, they will show you things multiple people can sit on that are clearly sofas. Ask for a chair, and they will show...

Volcanic Moon Orbiting Distant World

Volcanic Moon Orbiting Distant World

Let’s look at a world 635 lightyears away that just might have a fiery moon of volcanic goodness. To be honest, every aspect of this system is hot. The star is similar our Sun, but the planet is on an 2.8 day orbit around that star, and this orbit makes Mercury look...