OUTERPLANETS

845 articles

Planetary Alignment Provides NASA Rare Opportunity to Study Uranus
Apr 23, 2025 (SPX)
Observing the alignment allows NASA scientists to measure the temperatures and composition of Uranus' stratosphere - the middle layer of a planet's atmosphere -...
On Jupiter, it's mushballs all the way down
Apr 16, 2025 (SPX)
Planetary scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, now say that hailstorms of mushballs accompanied by fierce lightning actually exist on Jupiter. ...
20 years of Hubble data reveals evolving weather patterns on Uranus
Apr 01, 2025 (SPX)
This extensive dataset has allowed scientists to assess how Uranus's atmosphere responds to its unique solar exposure, improving models of how similar exoplanet...
NASA's Hubble Telescope May Have Uncovered a Triple System in the Kuiper Belt
Mar 05, 2025 (SPX)
The 148780 Altjira system, located approximately 3.7 billion miles from the Sun, appears to consist of three gravitationally bound objects. This discovery suppo...
NASA's Europa Clipper Leverages Mars for Critical Gravity Assist
Feb 26, 2025 (SPX)
At its closest approach to Mars at 12:57 p.m. EST, Europa Clipper will be moving at approximately 15.2 miles per second (24.5 kilometers per second) relative to...
Oort cloud resembles a galaxy, new study finds
Feb 23, 2025 (UPI)
Until now, the shape of the cloud and how it is affected by forces beyond our solar system have not been largely understood. But the new research, published Feb...
The PI's Perspective: A New Mission Update for the New Year
Feb 18, 2025 (SPX)
New Horizons is about halfway through a hibernation period that began Oct. 2 and will end on April 3. Even while in hibernation, the spacecraft still collects s...
NASA's Webb Uncovers Ancient Features of Trans-Neptunian Objects
Feb 16, 2025 (SPX)
The variety of TNO orbits provides valuable insight into the early evolution of the solar system, particularly the outward migration of Uranus and Neptune. Howe...
New Study Suggests Trench-Like Features on Uranus' Moon Ariel May Be Windows to Its Interior
Feb 05, 2025 (SPX)
Now, new research may shed light on how those materials reached (or are even still reaching) the surface. A study led by APL planetary geologist Chloe Beddingfi...
NASA Juno Mission Discovers Record-Breaking Volcanic Activity on Io
Jan 29, 2025 (SPX)
"Juno had two really close flybys of Io during Juno's extended mission," said Scott Bolton, Juno's principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute....
SwRI models suggest Pluto and Charon formed similarly to Earth and Moon
Jan 10, 2025 (SPX)
"We think the Earth-Moon system initiated when a Mars-sized object hit the Earth and led to the formation of our large Moon sometime later," said Dr. Adeene Den...
Capture theory unveils how Pluto and Charon formed as a binary system
Jan 07, 2025 (SPX)
"Pluto and Charon's formation has puzzled scientists for years," said lead researcher Adeene Denton. By considering the structural integrity of ice and rock in ...
Citizen scientists help decipher Jupiter's cloud composition
Jan 07, 2025 (SPX)
The research, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets, was initiated by amateur astronomer Dr. Steven Hill of Colorado. Using commercially av...
Texas A and M researchers illuminate the mysteries of icy ocean worlds
Dec 26, 2024 (SPX)
Revolutionizing the Search for Habitability The exploration of icy ocean worlds represents a new frontier in planetary science, focusing on understanding the po...
Jovian vortex hunter catalog reveals stunning insights into Jupiter's atmosphere
Dec 18, 2024 (SPX)
Vortices are categorized by color, with "white" being the most common, followed by "dark" and "red." The catalog also provides critical data on vortex distribut...
Juno identifies localized magma chambers driving Io's volcanic activity
Dec 13, 2024 (SPX)
The findings were detailed in a study published on Dec. 12 in Nature and discussed during a media briefing at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in...
NASA marks ten years of Hubble's Outer Planets Survey
Dec 10, 2024 (SPX)
The NASA Hubble Space Telescope's OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) program has been instrumental in advancing this exploration, providing annual observati...
Magnetic tornado is stirring up the haze at Jupiter's poles
Nov 27, 2024 (SPX)
The Earth-size ovals, which are visible only at ultraviolet wavelengths, are embedded in layers of stratospheric haze that cap the planet's poles. The dark oval...
Europa Clipper deploys instruments on journey to icy moon of Jupiter
Nov 26, 2024 (SPX)
The spacecraft, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is speeding through space at 22 miles per second (35 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun. Upo...
A clue to what lies beneath the bland surfaces of Uranus and Neptune
Nov 26, 2024 (SPX)
A planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, now proposes an alternative theory - that the interiors of both these planets are layered, and ...
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