Since Mars Spirit and Opportunity first set down on Mars in 2004, there has been a continuous robotic presence on the Red Planet. The Phoenix and Insight Landers have answered specific questions about Mars composition and interior, while a small herd of rovers have explored terrains that appear to have once been awash in water. While NASA’s current major focus is the Artemis program and the return of humans to the lunar surface, this work is all being done with a look ahead toward future human-missions to Mars and asteroids. The desire to go to Mars is complex and brings together all...
Catch the (Alien) Rainbow
Each glory is unique, depending on the composition of the planet’s atmosphere and the colors of the light from the star that illuminates it. WASP-76 (the «Sun» of WASP-76b) is a yellow and white main sequence star like our Sun, but different stars create glories with...
It’s a Star-Eat-Planet Universe Out There
Artist's impression of a terrestrial planet being captured by a twin star. Credit: intouchable, OPENVERSE Data, at the end of the day, is our first and last source of understanding. We look, build models to match what we see, predict things we haven’t seen yet, and...
Closer Look: Diversity Makes Understanding More Difficult (Planetary Edition)
Planet-forming discs around young stars and their location within the gas-rich cloud of Orion, roughly 1600 light-years from Earth. The mesmerising images of the discs were captured using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument...
Can Radar Protect Us From the Earth-Killer?
Deep Space Station 13 at NASA’s Goldstone complex in California – part of the agency’s Deep Space Network – is an experimental antenna that has been retrofitted with an optical terminal. In a first, this proof of concept received both radio frequency and laser signals...
Using Radar to Watch Asteroid Rotation
The day before asteroid 2008 OS7 made its close approach with Earth on Feb. 2, this series of images was captured by the powerful 230-foot (70-meter) Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna near Barstow, California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech One of the most...
Migration Solves Exoplanet Puzzle
Artistic representation of an exoplanet whose water ice on the surface is increasingly vaporizing and forming an atmosphere during its approach to the central star of the planetary system. This process increases the measured planetary radius compared to the value the...
Water on Asteroids
Using data from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), Southwest Research Institute scientists have discovered, for the first time, water molecules on the surface of an asteroid. Scientists looked at four silicate-rich asteroids using the...
Bennu Descended from an Ocean World
A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample collector. Sample material from asteroid Bennu can be seen on the middle right. Scientists have found evidence of both carbon and water in initial analysis of this material. The bulk of the sample is located inside....
Mimas’ Baby Ocean
In this view captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its closest-ever flyby of Saturn's moon Mimas, large Herschel Crater dominates Mimas, making the moon look like the Death Star in the movie "Star Wars." Herschel Crater is 130 kilometers, or 80 miles, wide and...
Medium Rock with Smaller Rock Herding Ring of Tiny Rocks
This illustration shows what the Centaur Chariklo and its rings could look like, based on our current understanding. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI) In school, we learn all about the eight planets, Pluto, the asteroid belt - and its larger members like OG...