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planetary-science Articles | Developments Today

This illustration depicts charged particles from a solar storm stripping away charged particles of Mars' atmosphere, one of the processes of Martian atmosphere loss studied by NASA's MAVEN mission.
Credit: NASA/GSFC

MAVEN data links Mars auroras to Earth-like magnetic cycle

Researchers say some Martian auroras are driven by a miniature version of Earth’s Dungey Cycle.
The work relies on MAVEN data collected before contact with the orbiter was lost in December 2025.
The finding helps connect auroral activity at Mars to broader questions about atmospheric loss and solar-wind interaction.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 9, 2026·via universetoday.com

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There are huge rift valleys on Venus. They suggest that the planet is still geologically active. Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS

Venus Rift Valleys Suggest the Planet Is Still Active

ETH Zurich researchers used high-resolution 3D simulations to model Venusian rift valleys.
The results suggest some rifts may have formed about 100 million years ago.
The study supports the view that Venus may still be geologically active.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 5, 2026·via universetoday.com

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A pictorial history of water on Mars by space artist Michael Carroll. This is based on Viking data and work done at NASA Ames. A study of rover measurements of water-related minerals on the Red Planet shows that water may well have been more widespread than previously thought. Courtesy Michael Carroll, public domain.

Mars rover mineral data points to more widespread ancient water

A new analysis of Spirit rover measurements found a broader pattern of water-related minerals in Martian soil.
Paolo de Souza examined years of data from Spirit's Mssbauer Spectrometer at Gusev Crater.
The presence of hematite and altered magnetite suggests water may once have been more widespread across Mars than expected.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 5, 2026·via universetoday.com

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NASA’s Curiosity rover finds a mysterious honeycomb landscape on Mars

Curiosity spots vast honeycomb fracture field on Mars

Curiosity found a broad field of honeycomb-like polygonal fractures in Valle Grande.
The patterns extend across the valley floor and up a nearby butte called Miraflores.
Scientists are testing whether drying mud, thermal cycling, compression, or multiple processes created the formation.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 1, 2026·via sciencedaily.com

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Asteroid (44) Nysa imaged with the SHARK-VIS instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope. The tiny moon S/2026 (44) 1, arrowed, was pulled from the asteroid's glare using techniques borrowed from exoplanet hunting (Credit : SHARK-VIS/LBT Observatory)

Asteroid Nysa may be the first known contact trinary

New adaptive-optics images suggest asteroid Nysa may consist of three joined lobes.
Researchers also detected a small moon orbiting Nysa using high-contrast imaging.
The moon could help measure Nysa’s mass and test whether the three-lobe interpretation is correct.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 1, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Diagram illustrating the formation and evolution of Neptune's current moon system. (Credit: Davis et al. (2026))

Study links Neptune’s rings and inner moons to shattered larger worlds after Triton’s capture

Webb NIRSpec observations found no water ice on three inner Neptunian moons and the rings.
Larissa, Galatea and the rings showed water-rich clay minerals with magnesium.
Researchers conclude the moons and rings likely re-formed from debris after Triton’s capture shattered larger bodies.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 1, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Image of Pluto's moon, Charon, taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015. (Credit: NASA/JHU-APL/SRI)

Charon’s Mountains Suggest a Much Faster Ancient Spin

Researchers modeled Charon’s early evolution using surface geology as a constraint.
The study suggests Charon once rotated every 14.3 hours, versus 6.4 days today.
A 30-36 km ice shell and early despinning may explain faults and terrain contrasts.
The findings could help scientists interpret other outer solar system icy moons.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 1, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Laying odds on the potential for Martian water near future landing zones

Mars Ice Maps Narrow Search Near Human Landing Zones

Two new PSI-led papers map likely subsurface water ice near future Mars landing zones.
The work uses thermal data from Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Researchers are quantifying confidence levels, not just plotting likely ice locations.
Accessible water ice is a key requirement for future human missions and fuel-making plans.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 1, 2026·via phys.org

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Image of Mercury taken by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. (Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington)

Mercury’s Magnetic Field May Build Short-Lived Radiation Belts

Researchers used MESSENGER data, new analysis methods, and computer models to test whether Mercury can trap charged particles.
The study found Mercury appears to form radiation belts intermittently, especially near aphelion.
These short-lived belts could reshape how scientists think about weak planetary magnetospheres and spacecraft risk near Mercury.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 31, 2026·via universetoday.com

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This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets' diameters, masses and distances from the host star, as of February 2018.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astrobiology is turning exoplanets into a mirror for Earth

Astrobiologists are using exoplanets as comparative models for Earth’s evolution.
Researchers emphasized that habitable-zone planets are not necessarily habitable worlds.
Scarce James Webb time has made Trappist-1 a priority target for atmospheric study.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 29, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Schematic illustration of the contrasting solar wind environments experienced by the lunar nearside and farside under the influence of Earth's magnetosphere. Credit: Zhang, X. et al. (2026)

Chang'e-6 samples show how Earth shields the Moon

Chang'e-6 returned far-side lunar regolith from the South Pole-Aitken basin.
Researchers analyzed noble-gas isotopes to study long-term solar wind implantation.
The results suggest Earth's magnetosphere helped create different exposure histories on the Moon's two hemispheres.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 28, 2026·via universetoday.com

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An artist's representation of two scenarios for a sub-Neptune planet's atmosphere-interior interface. Credit: Hailey Nelson/ASU

JWST study links sub-Neptune clouds to deep planetary interiors

Researchers used JWST data and modeling to study sub-Neptune atmospheres.
Deep clouds of vaporized rocks and salts may trap heat in lower atmospheric layers.
The effect could change how astronomers infer sub-Neptune interior composition.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 27, 2026·via universetoday.com

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The JunoCam instrument captured this image of the volcanic moon Io during Juno's flyby in December 2023. During this and the next flyby in February 2024, Juno used its Microwave Radiometer instrument to meausure the heat several meters under the moon's surface. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing by Gerald Eichstädt

Juno Used an Atmospheric Instrument to Probe Heat Below Io’s Surface

Juno used its Microwave Radiometer during Io flybys in December 2023 and February 2024.
The instrument measured heat several meters below the moon’s surface, down to about six meters.
The data are described in research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
The results give scientists a new way to study how tidal heating and volcanism shape Io’s near subsurface.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 26, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Orbital image of the global dust storm occurring in Martian Year 34 (mid-2018), which enveloped the entire Red Planet. (Credit: NASA/ESU)

Mars dust storms may create electrical hazards for future missions

Researchers analyzed Mars Year 34, including the 2018 global dust storm, using Mars Climate Database v.6.1.
The study found lower-atmosphere electric fields under breakdown-favorable conditions during the storm.
The authors do not quantify risk to specific spacecraft or habitats but argue the environment deserves closer attention.
Future Mars mission planning may need to treat dust storms as electrostatic hazards as well as visibility and power hazards.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 22, 2026·via universetoday.com

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In May, NASA's Psyche spacecraft performed a gravity-assist maneuver that sent in on its way to its target, the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche. The flyby was also an opportunity to test the spacecraft's instruments, including its multispectral camera. NASA has released a time-lapse video of the encounter. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

NASA’s Psyche Probe Turned a Mars Flyby Into a Systems Test

Psyche flew by Mars in May to gain speed and refine its trajectory toward asteroid 16 Psyche.
The encounter also let NASA test the spacecraft’s imager, magnetometer, and spectrometer systems.
NASA says the flyby data showed the instruments performed as designed.
The mission is scheduled to reach asteroid 16 Psyche in August 2029.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 22, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Artistic rendition of the Chicxulub impactor striking ancient Earth, with a Pterosaur observing. Credit: NASA

Scientists Narrow the Meteorite Type Behind the Dinosaur Extinction

New isotope work points to a rare carbonaceous chondrite as the Chicxulub impactor.
Researchers analyzed impact-linked clay samples from sites around the world.
The findings tighten constraints on the object behind the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 21, 2026·via universetoday.com

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NASA’s Perseverance took this selfie at “Witch Hazel Hill” on Jezero Crater’s rim on May 10th, 2025. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA's Perseverance Rover Uncovers Evidence of 4 Billion Year Old Impacts

A new study links Jezero rim bedrock to repeated impacts more than 3.9 billion years ago.
The layered Broom Point formation may preserve a record of the Late Heavy Bombardment.
Mars retains ancient geological evidence that has largely been erased on Earth.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jul 20, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Mars in all of its red-hued glory. The InSIGHT lander's mission ended a few years ago, and scientists are still working with its data and what it tells them about the planet. Though it lacks plate tectonics, Mars may still have a magma system in its interior, according to new research. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS

Mars may hide vast magma systems beneath a stagnant crust

New research links a Martian crustal seismic discontinuity to magmatism detected through InSight data.
The study suggests Mars developed a melt-depleted lower crust and broad magma systems without plate tectonics.
The result could influence how scientists model the evolution of rocky planets beyond Earth.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jun 29, 2026·via universetoday.com

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An illustration of a glowing sun surrounded by red glowing gas.

New models suggest Earth might avoid the sun’s final engulfment

A new study suggests Earth may not be certain to be engulfed when the sun enters its giant phases.
Researchers describe a balance between inward tidal drag and outward orbital expansion from solar mass loss.
The work was published June 19 in Astronomy & Astrophysics and draws on updated models plus observations of a nearby dying star.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jun 28, 2026·via livescience.com

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Diagram depicting the proposed magma ocean interior model for Uranus and Neptune. (Credit: Young et al. (2026))

Study suggests Uranus and Neptune may be magma worlds

A newly submitted study models Uranus and Neptune as having deep magma oceans rather than icy mantles.
The proposal aims to explain puzzling aspects of the planets’ magnetic fields and heat distribution.
The model could also affect how scientists interpret common sub-Neptune exoplanets.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Jun 26, 2026·via universetoday.com

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