[SwRI] A new Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) study based on data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has uncovered fascinating insights into why the solar wind gradually slows as it moves […]
New Horizons
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Budgets and Policy, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Policy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Stellar Cartography: A Demonstration Of Interstellar Navigation Using New Horizons
Editor’s note: Those of you in the space community know that NASA Science is facing an immense budget cut. Dozens of missions have been cancelled and many missions that are […]
![Images of the trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) Pluto [left] and Arrokoth [right], the primary flyby targets of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 and 2019. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is capable of obtaining observations for in-depth studies of a wide range of TNOs that both complement, and go beyond what was learned by New Horizons. (Image credits: NASA/SwRI/JHU-APL)](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Webb-Reveals-The-Ancient-Surfaces.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Pluto, Status Report
Webb Reveals The Ancient Surfaces of Trans-Neptunian Objects
Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are icy bodies ranging in size from Pluto and Eris (dwarf planets with diameters of about 1,500 miles) down to tens of miles (Arrokoth) and even smaller. […]
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 inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Radiation, Status Report
Ionizing Radiation Exposure On Arrokoth Shapes A Sugar World
The flyby of the New Horizons spacecraft of the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth revealed its reddish appearance and unraveled the unexpected presence of a methanol-rich surface.
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Stellar Cartography, Uranus
Exoplanet Analysis Practice Using Uranus, Hubble, And New Horizons
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and New Horizons spacecraft simultaneously set their sights on Uranus recently, allowing scientists to make a direct comparison of the planet from two very different viewpoints. […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Press Release
Our Outer Solar System Is More Populated With Icy Worlds Than We Thought
Observations of the outer Solar System with the Subaru Telescope have discovered new bodies where none were expected. The new objects are likely members of a much larger population waiting […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Pluto, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Peering Into Pluto’s Ocean
An ocean of liquid water deep beneath the icy surface of Pluto is coming into focus thanks to new calculations by Alex Nguyen, a graduate student in earth, environmental and […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Pluto, Press Release
Astrogeology/Astrochemistry/Astrobiology Update: New Horizons Detects Dusty Hints Of An Extended Kuiper Belt
New observations from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft hint that the Kuiper Belt – the vast, distant outer zone of our solar system populated by hundreds of thousands of icy, rocky […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Callisto, Comets and Asteroids, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
SwRI Scientists Find Evidence Of Geothermal Activity Within Icy Dwarf Planets
A team co-led by Southwest Research Institute found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake, located in the Kuiper Belt. Methane detected on […]