All articles tagged with #planetary research
Japan’s weather satellites Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 accidentally captured detailed data on Venus, revealing atmospheric phenomena like thermal tides and Rossby waves, which enhance understanding of Venus’ atmosphere and can improve calibration of dedicated planetary missions.
Research reveals that Titan's atmosphere wobbles like a gyroscope and its tilt varies with seasons, but the cause remains unknown. This discovery, based on 13 years of infrared data, could provide insights into Titan's history and atmospheric physics, aiding future missions like NASA's Dragonfly scheduled for 2034.
South Korea's IBS has ordered a series of small cubesats to study Venus from low Earth orbit, aiming to complement larger missions and provide continuous data over 15 years, despite potential NASA budget cuts threatening flagship Venus missions.
A study led by an international team of researchers has found evidence that water persisted in Mars' Gale crater for longer than previously thought, suggesting that the planet may have been habitable for a longer period of time. Using data from NASA's Curiosity rover, the researchers discovered deformed layers within desert sandstone, indicating the presence of water. These findings have implications for understanding Mars' changing climate and the search for signs of habitability, extending the timeline of water persisting in the region surrounding Gale crater and highlighting new avenues for exploration.
Scientists have discovered an exoplanet called WASP-193b, located 1,200 light years away, which is roughly 50 times the size of Neptune but has only about one percent the density of Earth. Dubbed an "extremely low-density super-Neptune," WASP-193b belongs to a rare class of cloud-like planets that are fluffy like cotton candy. Despite its age of up to six billion years, it challenges the prevailing theory about the formation of such "super-puff" planets. Further research is needed to understand the unique properties of WASP-193b and the mysteries of the universe.
The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has mapped the Martian surface using its High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) for almost 20 years. To celebrate the mission's 20th anniversary, a series of global color mosaic images were live-streamed from the Mars Express orbiter to Earth. The mosaic is the result of a high-altitude campaign conducted by the HRSC science team and state-of-the-art image processing, providing valuable insight into the Martian environment, including revealing the surface composition, demonstrating how water once flowed there in the past, and modern meteorological phenomena.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will be used by astronomers to study Saturn's iconic rings and determine when they might disappear. The rings are believed to be eroding due to Saturn's gravity and magnetic field attracting matter from them. Researchers estimate that the rings will only be part of Saturn for another few hundred million years. A team of scientists from the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology will lead the effort to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms driving the loss of ring-stuff.