The next big chapter in exoplanet research has begun – NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has started its science observations. This is exciting since TESS will be searching for rocky, Earth-like and potentially habitable planets orbiting nearby stars. TESS is a follow-up mission to …
Read MoreTESS begins hunt for other Earths, opening new chapter in exoplanet research
Water on Mars! Again! Doesn’t it seem like every year or two, we hear about some new water-related finding on the red planet? So far, the discoveries have more specifically been about ice, possible small amounts of watery brines temporarily running on the surface or …
When it comes to volcanoes, we naturally tend to think of big eruptions like the recent ones in Hawaii or Mount St. Helens in Washington state, best known for its major 1980 eruption. Earth is a volcanically active planet, but there is another place in …
Stars give birth to planets. That’s part of the natural order of things in our universe. But did you know that stars can also sometimes eat their planets? Usually, planets will perish when their host star eventually dies and expands; such is the fate awaiting …
When New Horizons sped past Pluto and its moons in July 2015, it revealed some incredible new worlds to explore. They are no longer just very tiny dots of light in the sky, they are actual places, with diverse geological wonders. Now, for the first …
Read MoreMapping new worlds: Researchers release first global maps of Pluto and Charon
Our Solar System is full of moons of many different kinds, just as diverse and amazing as the planets they orbit. While Earth only has one moon, and some planets, like Mercury and Venus, have none, others have dozens, namely Jupiter and Saturn. The ice …
Mars is a desert planet, a lot like some deserts on Earth, but much colder. Also just like Earth, the Martian deserts have vast dunes, ranging from small sand ripples (technically not dunes) to towering, cliff-like true dunes of fine sand. But – while various …