This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the abundances and distribution of S, and the processes that control the behavior of S on the Earth’s Moon and on Mercury. The […]
Mercury
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Astrogeology, Beta Pictoris, Ceres, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, Proxima Centauri, Saturn, Status Report, tau Ceti, TRAPPIST-1, Uranus, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Classifications For Exoplanet and Exoplanetary Systems
When a star is described as a spectral class G2V, we know its approximate mass, temperature, age, and size. At more than 5,700 exoplanets discovered, it is a natural developmental […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ceres, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Mercury, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Building Materials For Water-rich Planets In The Early Solar System
Age data for certain classes of meteorite have made it possible to gain new findings on the origin of small water-rich astronomical bodies in the early solar system. These so-called […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Status Report, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Formation Of The Four Terrestrial Planets In The Jupiter-Saturn Chaotic Excitation Scenario: Fundamental Properties And Water Delivery
The Jupiter-Saturn chaotic excitation (JSCE) scenario proposes that the protoplanetary disk was dynamically excited and depleted beyond ~1-1.5 au in a few Myr, offering a new and plausible explanation for […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mercury, Microgravity, Status Report
Connecting Molecular Biomarkers, Mineralogical Composition, And Microbial Diversity From Mars Analog Lava Tubes
Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain) is one of the best terrestrial analogs to Martian volcanology. Particularly, Lanzarote lava tubes may offer access to recognizably preserved chemical and morphological biosignatures valuable for […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mercury, Press Release
Unveiling Mercury’s Geological Mysteries: Salt Glaciers, Primordial Atmosphere, and the New Frontiers of Astrobiology
Scientists from the Planetary Science Institute have uncovered evidence of potential salt glaciers on Mercury, opening a new frontier in astrobiology by revealing a volatile environment that might echo habitability […]
Posted inMercury, Press Release
The Origin Of Mercury’s Structure and Chemical Composition and Their Astrobiological Implications
Mercury can be categorized as either an endmember or an outlier planet due to its unusually large iron core, constituting approximately 70% of its total mass. The origin of this […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mercury, Status Report
First Observationally-Constrained Estimates Of Carbon In Mercury’s Near Surface
A striking feature of the surface of Mercury is the low-reflectance material (LRM), areas exhibiting 20-30% lower average reflectance that are often associated with impact craters, especially the ejecta and […]
Posted inMercury, Press Release
Vast Collapsed Terrains on Mercury Might be Windows Into Ancient – Possibly Habitable – Volatile-Rich Materials
New research raises the possibility that some parts of Mercury’s subsurface, and those of similar planets in the galaxy, once could have been capable of fostering prebiotic chemistry, and perhaps […]