More pocked with craters than any other object in our solar system, Jupiter’s outermost and second-biggest Galilean moon, Callisto, appears geologically unremarkable. In the 1990s, however, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft captured […]
Jupiter
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
JWST Reveals Varied Origins Between Jupiter’s Irregular Satellites
We report observations of eight Jovian irregular satellites with JWST’s NIRSpec instrument: Himalia, Elara, Pasiphae, Sinope, Lysithea, Carme, Ananke, and Themisto. Irregular satellite families, which are presumed to have formed […]
Posted inCommercial & Private Sector, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Resilience of Chlorella vulgaris to Simulated Atmospheric Gas Compositions of Mars, Jupiter, and Titan
This study investigates the resilience of the unicellular green microalga Chlorella vulgaris to extreme atmospheric conditions simulating those of Mars, Jupiter, and Titan.
Posted inEuropa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
JUICE Astrobiology Mission Update
Since the beginning of the year, the downlink rate of Juice has been dropping dramatically to only 1/6th of usual data rate.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Io, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
How Io Became The Most Volcanic Body In Our Solar System
Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Neptune, Press Release, Saturn, Uranus
Hubble Celebrates A Decade Of Tracking Outer Planets
Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our solar system. Collectively, since their launch in 1977, the twin […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Status Report
Migration of Bodies to the Earth from Different Distances from the Sun
Migration of bodies under the gravitational influence of almost formed planets was studied, and probabilities of their collisions with the Earth and other terrestrial planets were calculated. Based on the […]
Posted inEuropa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Radiation, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Europa Clipper Planetary Protection Probabilistic Risk Assessment Summary
Protecting Jupiter’s Icy Moons from the Earth’s biological contamination is a key consideration for the Europa Clipper mission. The mission’s goal is to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, and investigate its […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Apps - Games, Astrogeology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Status Report
MultIHeaTS: A Fast and Stable Thermal Solver for Multilayered Planetary Surfaces
A fully implicit scheme is proposed for solving the heat equation in 1D heterogeneous media, available as a computationally efficient open-source Python code. The algorithm uses finite differences on an […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Saturn, Status Report, Titan, Uranus
Sulfur in the Giant Planets, their Moons, and Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets
We review sulfur chemistry of the gas giant planets and their moons where sulfur compounds are observed. The major S-bearing gas in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets is […]