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planetary-science Articles | Developments Today

Saturn

Hubble spots a new 10-sided wave around Saturn’s south pole

Hubble observations revealed a giant 10-sided atmospheric wave around Saturn’s south pole.
Researchers traced signs of the structure back to 2023 and say it appears to be strengthening.
The feature differs from Saturn’s long-known northern hexagon and may represent a newly emerging atmospheric phenomenon.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Sep 2, 2026·via science.nasa.gov

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Artist's illustration of Mars's hotter southern interior. (Credit: Artist concept: NASA / Theophilus Britt Griswold)

Mars May Be Hundreds of Degrees Hotter in Its South

Researchers used data from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The study applied tidal tomography to model Mars’s interior heat distribution.
The southern hemisphere may be 200 to 400C hotter internally than the north.
The result aligns with earlier InSight evidence that southern seismic waves dissipate faster.

DE

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

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Artist's impression of the ESA JUICE spacecraft. (Credit: ESA)

JUICE Sets Up a Close Look at Jupiter’s Tiny Moon Kallichore

Researchers used Hubble and the Gran Telescopio de Canarias to refine Kallichore’s size and orbit.
Kallichore is about 3.8 kilometers wide and has a very low albedo of roughly 3.7 percent.
The updated orbit reduces positional uncertainty by about 80 percent ahead of JUICE’s planned 2031 Jupiter arrival.

DE

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

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Asteroid 2023 CX1 observed streaking over Normandy, France, on February 13, 2023. The resulting Saint-Pierre-le-Viger meteorite fall was one of 75 analyzed in this study conducted by the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center. (Photo Credit: G. de Reijke)

Researchers map the seven-stage path of meteorites through Earth’s atmosphere

Researchers from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames analyzed 75 meteorite falls.
The study proposes a seven-stage sequence from atmospheric entry to post-glow dispersal.
The work aims to improve understanding of meteorite survival and airburst hazards, including events like Chelyabinsk.

DE

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

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Our early Solar System likely had embedded magnetic fields at work even before the Sun was born, according to a new study. Credit: Hernán Cañellas

Ancient Meteorite Grains Point to Magnetism in the Sun’s Birth

Researchers studied calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions in the Antarctic meteorite DOM 08006.
The inclusions formed within the first 200,000 years of Solar System history.
Their magnetic imprint suggests magnetism likely helped shape the protosolar nebula.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 30, 2026·via universetoday.com

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Scientists melted a diamond and cracked a secret of ice giants

Diamond-melting experiment sheds light on Uranus and Neptune

Researchers used lasers and X-ray diffraction to study diamond under extreme pressure and heat.
The results align measured diamond melting behavior with quantum-based theoretical models.
The work improves models of Uranus and Neptune interiors and may aid fusion research.

DE

DT Editorial Team·Aug 30, 2026·via phys.org

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Researchers found this image of comet 28P/Neujmin in the archives of Japan's Subaru Telescope and its Subaru Prime Focus Camera (Suprime-Cam). It turned out to be from almost the perfect angle to study the comet from. It's a naked comet without a coma, and these lucky observations gave astronomers a great look at its surface. Image Credit: NAOJ

Subaru archive catches a rare ‘naked’ comet at just the right angle

Researchers found archival Subaru Telescope images of comet 28P/Neujmin at an unusually favorable viewing angle.
Because the comet was more than 10 AU from the Sun, coma contamination was minimized and the nucleus could be studied more directly.
The result shows how observatory archives can produce new science years after the original observations were made.

DE

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

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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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