Impact events Archives

Impact history should play a crucial role in the search for habitable exoplanets like Earth -- SwRI

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mars, Mercury, Press Release, Venus

Notable Progress In Understanding The Evolution Of The Terrestrial Planets

by Keith CowingJune 18, 2025June 18, 2025

An SwRI-led team compared the early impact history of Venus and Earth, determining that Venus experienced higher-energy impacts that created a superheated core. Models show these conditions could create Venus’ […]

A clay-rich mesa in the Hellas basin of Mars. The blue color near the rim is aluminum bearing clays. The red-orange color below that is iron and magnesium bearing clays. The image captures an area that’s 1 kilometer across. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Thick Clay Layers On Mars May Have Been A Stable Place For Ancient Life

by Keith CowingJune 18, 2025June 18, 2025

The planet Mars is home to thick layers of clay that can span hundreds of feet. Since they need water to form, these outcrops have long been of interest to […]

This image shows a wide-field view of part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, about 450 light-years from Earth. Its relative closeness makes it an ideal place to study the formation of stars. Many dark clouds of obscuring dust are clearly visible against the background stars. Credit: Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin.

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Impact events, Interstellar, Status Report

How Do Organic Molecules Survive in Space?

by Keith CowingJune 10, 2025June 10, 2025

The discovery of small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules in interstellar clouds through radio astronomy and observations of infrared (IR) emission bands from PAHs with unprecedented sensitivity by the James […]

Shifting distributions of genera within functional groups and their phylogenetic underpinnings among the end-Cretaceous, survival pool, and Recent biotas. (A) Changes in absolute richness of genera within functional groups between the end-Cretaceous biota, the survivor pool, and today. Warmer colors indicate higher genus richness. Mixing of the color gradient in the survivor pool and Recent biota indicates shifts in the richness rank order of functional groups. (B) Phylogenetic underpinnings of functional group composition for the end-Cretaceous and Recent biotas. The proportion of genera in a functional group per family is reflected by the widths of ribbons connecting the tips of the family-level phylogeny to functional groups. The middle panel shows the proportional changes in genus richness of functional groups among taxon sets. The connections between the taxon sets are to visualize shifts in the rank order of functional groups and do not imply smooth transitions between them. -- Science Advances

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Does Life Rebound From Mass Extinctions?

by Keith CowingJune 4, 2025June 4, 2025

If you’re an animal living through a mass extinction, it’s best to be one that’s found a unique way to make a living.

Estimated total mass of transiting compact systems, Mtot, scaled to the stellar mass, M∗. a, (Mtot/M∗) for compact systems having ≥ 3 known planets that orbit a single star within a < 0.5 au (circle markers, blue box). Points are ordered left-to-right by ascending stellar mass. Data are from www.exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu. For cases without mass estimates, we use the observed planet radius, increase the estimated radius uncertainty by a factor of 2, and then apply a radius vs. mass relation [46]. Light [medium] blue circles are systems with all [some] planetary masses estimated from this relation, while dark blue circles are systems with measured planetary masses. We include only systems with resulting errors ∆Mtot/Mtot < 1. b, Distribution of compact system mass ratios. Over a wide range of stellar masses (M∗ ∼ 0.1 to 1.3 stellar mass), compact multi-planet systems display a common mass ratio, with 90% of systems having 3×10−5 < (Mtot/M∗) < 3×10−4 (gray shaded region). This mass ratio is more similar to that of the gas giant satellite systems (square markers, yellow box) than to the inner or outer planets in our Solar System (triangle markers, red box). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Impact events, Status Report

Origin Of Compact Exoplanetary Systems During Disk Infall

by Keith CowingJune 4, 2025June 4, 2025

Exoplanetary systems that contain multiple planets on short-period orbits appear to be prevalent in the current observed exoplanetary population, yet the processes that give rise to such configurations remain poorly […]

Optical microscopy image of the clastic matrix region in LAR 12252 that was studied using S-XANES. Notable phases include enstatite (examples outlined in red), sulphides (example outlined in yellow), a small chondrule fragment (outlined in orange), and fine matrix (examples highlighted in pink). b Corresponding map calculated from the S-XANES spectra of the region shown in a, showing the amplitude of the H-S peak at each point normalised to the average amplitude of point spectra measured from chondrule mesostasis (Fig. S8). Black pixels correspond to points where the SXANES spectra that did not contain a resolvable H-S peak. White pixels correspond to points where the S-XANES spectra could not be fitted due to their quality or noise in the spectra. Some grain outlines have been transferred onto Fig 2b to allow for comparison of the two figures. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Source Of Hydrogen In Earth’s Building Blocks

by Keith CowingJune 2, 2025June 2, 2025

Despite being pivotal to the habitability of our planet, the process by which Earth gained its present-day hydrogen budget is unclear.

Evolution of the number of planets in one system averaged over 20 runs, ⟨Np⟩. The horizontal axes are the time normalized by the Kepler period of the innermost planet in each model. (a) model R1 (0.05–0.15au) and (b) model R3 (0.5–1.5au). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Status Report

Semi-analytical Model For The Dynamical Evolution Of Planetary Systems via Giant Impacts

by Keith CowingMay 28, 2025May 28, 2025

In the standard model of terrestrial planet formation, planets are formed through giant impacts of planetary embryos after the dispersal of the protoplanetary gas disc.

By analyzing how far material ejected from an impact crater flies, scientists can locate buried glaciers and other interesting subsurface features. On the left is an image of a fresh Martian impact crater taken by NASA's HiRISE instrument. On the right is the extent of an ejecta blanket according to computer simulations of impacts. Credit NASA/Aleksandra Sokolowska

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Using Rock Blasted From Craters To Probe The Martian Subsurface

by Keith CowingMay 19, 2025May 19, 2025

A team of planetary scientists has developed a promising new way to peer beneath the dusty surface of Mars and other planetary bodies.

Giant impacts are highly complex events with different processes dominating the dynamics of different regions of the colliding bodies. Illustrative time snapshots from an example SPH giant impact simulation with a resolution on the order 106 particles. All particles in the lower hemispheres only of the colliding bodies are shown and coloured by material type as follows: target core (grey), mantle (orange), and atmosphere (blue); impactor core (brown) and mantle (yellow). Colour luminosity is scaled by the particles’ internal energy. Impact parameters (defined in Section 2.2) and atmospheric loss fraction (Xatm) are detailed in the first panel, with lost particles (those that ultimately become unbound to the largest remnant) coloured in green. The simulation time corresponding to each snapshot is given in each panel, with t = 0.0 hr defined as the point of impact. White dashed lines in the second and third panels indicate the approximate location of the front of the impact shock wave. An animation of this figure is available in the Supplementary Material. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Status Report

Atmospheric Loss During Giant Impacts: Mechanisms And Scaling Of Near- And Far-field Loss

by Keith CowingMay 14, 2025May 14, 2025

The primary epoch of planetary accretion concludes with giant impacts – highly energetic collisions between proto-planets that can play a key role in shaping a planet’s inventory of volatile elements. […]

Panoramic view of the Chang’e-5 landing site. Credit: CNSA/CLEP

Analog Studies, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Interstellar, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Moon, Status Report

Polycyclic Aromatics In The Chang’E 5 Lunar Soils

by Keith CowingMay 4, 2025May 4, 2025

Polycyclic aromatics are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium and meteorites, yet the search for lunar polycyclic aromatics remains a significant challenge.