#planetary-science

NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft observed the Zwan-Wolf effect at Mars during a powerful 2023 solar storm, revealing a plasma-compression phenomenon previously associated with Earth.

NASA spacecraft data from a 2023 solar storm suggest Mars can experience the Zwan-Wolf effect, a plasma-squeezing phenomenon previously thought to require a full magnetosphere.

Data from ESA’s Swarm mission show that molten material in Earth’s outer core beneath the Pacific changed direction around 2010 and is now moving eastward at increasing speed.

Using JWST’s mid-infrared instrument, researchers studied the hot dayside of LHS 3844 b and found a barren rocky world with no atmosphere and a surface unlike Earth’s crust.

NASA used Psyche’s close pass by Mars to gather detailed images of the planet and calibrate key instruments ahead of the spacecraft’s long journey to asteroid Psyche.

A NASA-backed concept called LEAP would use a spring-driven, one-legged robot to hop across Saturn’s moon Enceladus and sample material from its geysers.

Using decades-old Magellan data, researchers built new 3D models of Venus’s largest coronae and found evidence that multiple plume-driven processes may be shaping the planet’s surface.

A new astrobiology study argues that future missions may be just as vulnerable to overlooking life as they are to falsely claiming it, and that artificial intelligence could become a useful tool for catching subtle biosc

A new review argues that beneficial fungi could help overcome the nutrient and stress limits of lunar and Martian regolith, offering a potential path toward more self-sufficient off-world agriculture.

New modeling suggests Mercury’s water ice may have been delivered and trapped at the poles during a single major impact roughly 100 million years ago.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft used a close Mars flyby to gain speed and refine its path toward asteroid 16 Psyche, while also capturing unusual images of the planet from a crescent perspective.

A new reassessment led by the scientist behind Europa’s original plume claim is casting doubt on one of planetary science’s most influential Hubble discoveries.

Researchers using NASA’s TESS mission say they have identified 27 new candidate planets orbiting binary star systems, using a detection method designed to find worlds that standard transit searches can miss.

A team led by the University of Tokyo says a hydraulic jump, the same abrupt transition seen when water spreads across a sink, can explain a massive recurring disturbance in Venus’s cloud layers.

A new modeling study suggests tides in ancient Martian water bodies were probably too weak to serve as a primary force behind sedimentary structures seen in Gale Crater and Utopia Planitia.

NASA engineers solved an unusual problem on Mars after Curiosity drilled into a small rock that became stuck to the rover’s arm during sample collection.

A new modeling study presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference adds weight to the idea that Saturn’s iconic rings may have formed when an ancient moon called Chrysalis drifted inside the planet’s Roche zone

Astronomers studying trans-Neptunian object 2002 XV93 report signs of a thin atmosphere, raising new questions about how such a small body could retain gas so far from the Sun.

A new preprint argues that a future city on Mars may need metals and other materials sourced from main-belt asteroids, with multi-stop refueling routes overcoming the delta-v limits of cargo spacecraft.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured a sweeping panorama at a transition zone on Jezero Crater’s rim, where some of Mars’ oldest accessible rocks may help scientists study the planet’s earliest crust and atmosphere.