http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/solar_system/ Solar System Planets. Astronomy articles on the eight planets, plus the two dwarf planets, Pluto and Eris. Great pictures of everything in the solar system. Updated daily. en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:05:01 EST Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/solar_system/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102110228.htm 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. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102110228.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108215449.htm A NASA spacecraft gliding over the battered surface of Mercury for the second time this year has revealed more previously unseen real estate on the innermost planet. The probe also has produced several science firsts and is returning hundreds of new photos and measurements of the planet's surface, atmosphere and magnetic field. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108215449.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108214703.htm The Cassini spacecraft has weathered the Monday, Nov. 2, flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus in good health and has been sending images and data of the encounter back to Earth. Cassini had approached Enceladus more closely before, but this passage took the spacecraft on its deepest plunge yet through the heart of the plume shooting out from the south polar region. Scientists are eagerly sifting through the results. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108214703.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110070107.htm Winter images of NASA's Phoenix Lander showing the lander shrouded in dry-ice frost on Mars have been captured with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE camera, aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110070107.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108214924.htm Before our planets found their way to the stable orbits they circle in today, they wiggled and jostled about like unsettled children. Now, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young star with evidence for the same kind of orbital hyperactivity. Young planets circling the star are thought to be disturbing smaller comet-like bodies, causing them to collide and kick up a huge halo of dust. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108214924.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122526.htm 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. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122526.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171724.htm Dust samples collected from the stratosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relics 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. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924123310.htm 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. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924123310.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709095427.htm Galileo knew he had discovered a new planet in 1613, 234 years before its official discovery date, according to a new theory. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709095427.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163519.htm 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. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163519.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021142925.htm 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. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021142925.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151322.htm Starting in 2010, an international crew of six will simulate a 520-day round-trip to Mars, including a 30-day stay on the martian surface. In reality, they will live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia, to investigate the psychological and medical aspects of a long-duration space mission. ESA is looking for European volunteers to take part. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151322.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm 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. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016101807.htm 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. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016101807.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016094030.htm 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. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016094030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015144522.htm 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. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015144522.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013110050.htm 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. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013110050.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006205610.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006205610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006113003.htm 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. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006113003.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091004020806.htm 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. Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091004020806.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915101155.htm 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. Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915101155.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133244.htm 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. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915202244.htm Scientists are presenting the first results of a global analysis of spatial patterns, occurrence and origin of river channels on Saturn's moon Titan. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915202244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092751.htm 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. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092751.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927140838.htm 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. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927140838.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924143506.htm 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. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924143506.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921174323.htm 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. Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921174323.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922185937.htm 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. Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922185937.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917131548.htm 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. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917131548.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918102022.htm The widespread idea that Mars is red due to rocks being rusted by the water that once flooded the red planet may not be correct. Recent laboratory studies show that red dust may be formed by ongoing grinding of surface rocks and liquid water need not have played any significant role in the formation process. The findings open up the debate about the history of water on Mars and whether it has ever been habitable. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918102022.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914111821.htm Scientists using the Cassini spacecraft's Magnetospheric Imaging instrument (MIMI) have detected a new, temporary radiation belt at Saturn, located around the orbit of its moon Dione at about 377,000 km from the center of the planet. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914111821.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917144123.htm Researchers have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the Solar System it came from, in a very rare finding. Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917144123.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092536.htm Observations by the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission have provided strong new evidence that the solar wind has stripped away significant quantities of water from Earth's twin planet. The data also shed new light on the transfer of trace gases in the Venusian atmosphere and wind patterns. Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092818.htm Scientists have assembled the first global geological map of Jupiter's moon Ganymede -- the solar system's largest moon -- and in doing so have gathered new evidence into the formation of the large, icy satellite. Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092818.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915140921.htm A research project looking for ways to reduce bone loss in astronauts may yield methods of improving the bone health of cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment. The scientists are seeking to understand radiation-induced bone loss and to determine which treatments can be used to reduce that loss and lower the risk of fractures. The results could be beneficial to cancer patients, especially those who receive radiation therapy in the pelvic region. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915140921.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914202157.htm A powerful lightning storm in Saturn’s atmosphere that began in mid-January 2009 has become the Solar System’s longest continuously observed thunderstorm. It broke the record duration of 7.5 months set by another thunderstorm observed on Saturn by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft between November 2007 and July 2008. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914202157.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092653.htm Networks of giant polygonal troughs etched across crater basins on Mars have been identified as desiccation cracks caused by evaporating lakes, providing further evidence of a warmer, wetter martian past. Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090908132944.htm Since its discovery by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655, Saturn's most massive moon, Titan, has been known as a place of mystery and intrigue. The large, cloud-enshrouded moon is such a scientific enigma that for the past five years, it has been targeted by NASAs Cassini spacecraft with more than 60 probing flybys. One of its latest findings could be a valuable asset to future generations of space explorers hunting for materials to whip up a Labor Day barbecue. Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090908132944.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903170218.htm Thousands of newly released images from more than 1,500 telescopic observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a wide range of gullies, dunes, craters, geological layering and other features on the Red Planet. Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903170218.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903064925.htm Since the launch of the NASA Kepler Mission earlier this year, astronomers have been keenly awaiting the first detection of an Earth-like planet around another star. Now, in an echo of science fiction movies a team of scientists thinks that they may even find habitable ‘exomoons,’ too. Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903064925.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827134159.htm A team of scientists has found a new planet which orbits the wrong way around its host star. The planet, named WASP-17, and orbiting a star 1000 light years away, was found by the UK's WASP project in collaboration with Geneva Observatory. The discovery casts new light on how planetary systems form and evolve. Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827134159.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827132901.htm A planet has been discovered with ten times the mass of Jupiter, but which orbits its star in less than one Earth-day. Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827132901.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814202826.htm The high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned a dramatic oblique view of the Martian crater that a rover explored for two years. Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814202826.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810085308.htm Mars may not be as dormant as scientists once thought. The 2004 discovery of methane means that either there is life on Mars, or that volcanic activity continues to generate heat below the martian surface. ESA plans to find out which it is. Either outcome is big news for a planet once thought to be biologically and geologically inactive. Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810085308.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810161208.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found evidence of a high-speed collision between two burgeoning planets around a young star. Astronomers say that two rocky bodies, one as least as big as our moon and the other at least as big as Mercury, slammed into each other within the last few thousand years or so -- not long ago by cosmic standards. The impact destroyed the smaller body, vaporizing huge amounts of rock and flinging massive plumes of hot lava into space. Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810161208.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810034048.htm Thanks to a special play of sunlight and shadow as Saturn continues its march towards its August 11 equinox, recent images captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft are revealing new three-dimensional objects and structures in the planet's otherwise flat rings. Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810034048.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810175658.htm NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity is investigating a metallic meteorite the size of a large watermelon that is providing researchers more details about the Red Planet's environmental history. The rock, dubbed "Block Island," is larger than any other known meteorite on Mars. Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810175658.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810034212.htm In 1918, magician extraordinaire Harry Houdini created a sensation when he made a 10,000 pound elephant disappear before a mystified audience of over 5,200 at New York's famed Hippodrome theatre. But a vanishing pachyderm is nothing compared to the magnificent illusion to be performed by our solar system's own sixth rock from the sun on Aug. 11. On that day, the planet Saturn, with no help from either Jupiter or Uranus, will make its 170,000-mile-wide ring system disappear. Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810034212.htm