Solar System News
Courtesy of Science Daily

Professor To Predict Weather On Mars Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and out-of-this-world dust storms. A professor of atmospheric sciences now hopes to analyze and forecast Martian weather. Publ.Date : Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST 'Ultra-primitive' Particles Found In Comet Dust Dust samples collected from the stratosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relicts from the ancient cosmos, scientists report. The dust includes presolar grains and material from interstellar molecular clouds. This "ultra-primitive" material likely wafted into the atmosphere after the Earth passed through the trail of an Earth-crossing comet in 2003, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study cometary dust in the laboratory. Publ.Date : Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Sees Channels From Hale Crater A new image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows channels to the southeast of Hale crater on southern Mars. Taken by the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, this view covers an area about 3 kilometers (2 miles) wide. Publ.Date : Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Key Process For Space Outpost Proved On 'Vomit Comet' Ride During flights simulating the moon's low gravity, researchers find that sifters can separate soil particles and produce the best feedstock for an oxygen generator. Scientists are designing and testing components of the generator, which would provide oxygen needed for a lunar or Martian outpost. Publ.Date : Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT Galileo's Notebooks May Reveal Secrets Of New Planet Galileo knew he had discovered a new planet in 1613, 234 years before its official discovery date, according to a new theory. Publ.Date : Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Long Night Falls Over Saturn's Rings As Saturn's rings orbit the planet, a section is typically in the planet's shadow, experiencing a brief night lasting from 6 to 14 hours. However, once approximately every 15 years, night falls over the entire visible ring system for about four days. Publ.Date : Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT Astronomers Find Organic Molecules Around Gas Planet Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize planets where life could exist. The planet is not habitable but it has the same chemistry that, if found around a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of life. Publ.Date : Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT How The Moon Produces Its Own Water The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface. Publ.Date : Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT New View Of The Heliosphere: Cassini Helps Redraw Shape Of Solar System The solar system, as defined by the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may have a quite different shape than scientists had thought. Publ.Date : Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT New Concept May Enhance Earth-Mars Communication Direct communication between Earth and Mars can be strongly disturbed and even blocked by the Sun for weeks at a time, cutting off any future human mission to the Red Planet. An European Space Agency engineer working with engineers in the UK may have found a solution using a new type of orbit combined with continuous-thrust ion propulsion. Publ.Date : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Catching The Interstellar Wind: Spacecraft Finds Ribbon-like Structure At Edge Of Heliosphere NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun. Results include the discovery of a narrow ribbon of bright details or emissions not resembling any of the current theoretical models of the interstellar boundary region. Publ.Date : Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT Asteroid Is Actually A Protoplanet, Study Of First High-resolution Images Of Pallas Confirms Pallas is in the gray area between a small asteroid and a planet, researchers report. Pallas lies in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars and is about the size of Arizona. Publ.Date : Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring Around Saturn NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. Publ.Date : Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT Rocket Smash Could Find Moon’s Water Ice, Expert Says Crashing a rocket into the Moon will create “one more dimple” on the lunar surface and could find water ice on Earth’s nearest neighbour, according to one expert. Publ.Date : Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT 'Trash Can' Nuclear Reactors Could Power Human Outpost On Moon Or Mars NASA has made a series of critical strides toward the development of new nuclear reactors the size of a trash can that could power a human outpost on the moon or Mars. Three recent tests at different NASA centers and a national lab have successfully demonstrated key technologies required for compact fission-based nuclear power plants for human settlements on other worlds. Publ.Date : Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT Chemistry Of Titan's Hazy Atmosphere Unraveled A team of University of Hawai'i at Manoa researchers led by Ralf Kaiser, physical chemist at UH Manoa, unraveled the chemical evolution of the orange-brownish colored atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, the only solar system body besides Venus and Earth with a solid surface and thick atmosphere. Publ.Date : Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high. Publ.Date : Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT Global View Of Valleys On Saturn's Moon Titan Shows North-South Contrast Scientists are presenting the first results of a global analysis of spatial patterns, occurrence and origin of river channels on Saturn's moon Titan. Publ.Date : Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT Telltale Tells Story Of Winds At Phoenix Landing Site Wind speeds and directions were measured for the first time in the Mars polar region using the Phoenix lander’s Telltale instrument. Astronomers recorded Easterly winds of approximately 15-20 kilometres per hour during the martian mid-summer. When autumn approached, the winds increased and switched round to come predominantly from the West. While these winds appeared to be dominated by turbulence, the highest wind speeds recorded of up to nearly 60 kilometres per hour coincided with the passing of weather systems, when also the number of dust devils increased by an order of magnitude. Publ.Date : Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT MESSENGER Spacecraft Prepares For Final Pass By Mercury NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft known as MESSENGER will fly by Mercury for the third and final time on Sept. 29. The spacecraft will pass less than 142 miles above the planet's rocky surface for a final gravity assist that will enable it to enter Mercury's orbit in 2011. Determining the composition of Mercury's surface is a major goal of the orbital phase of the mission. The spacecraft already has imaged more than 90 percent of the planet's surface. The spacecraft's team will activate instruments during this flyby to view specific features to uncover more information about the planet. Publ.Date : Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT Scientists See Water Ice In Fresh Meteorite Craters On Mars NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars. The spacecraft's observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet. Publ.Date : Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT Cassini Reveals New Ring Quirks, Shadows During Saturn Equinox NASA scientists are marveling over the extent of ruffles and dust clouds revealed in the rings of Saturn during the planet's equinox last month. Scientists once thought the rings were almost completely flat, but new images reveal the heights of some newly discovered bumps in the rings are as high as the Rocky Mountains. Publ.Date : Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT Radar Map Of Buried Mars Layers Matches Climate Cycles New, three-dimensional imaging of Martian north-polar ice layers by a radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is consistent with theoretical models of Martian climate swings during the past few million years. Publ.Date : Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's LAMP Shedding Light On Permanently Shadowed Regions Of The Moon NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on June 18 of this year, has begun its extensive exploration of the lunar environment and will return more data about the Moon than any previous mission. The Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project is an integral part of the LRO science investigation. LAMP uses a novel method to peer into the perpetual darkness of the Moon's so-called permanently shadowed regions. Publ.Date : Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT