Young Solar System's Fifth Giant Planet?
Maybe our serene and well ordered solar system has had a very turbulent past. http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.2949
View ArticleNASA science update about Europa
NASA Hosting Science Update about Jupiter's Icy Moon EuropaNASA will host a Science Update at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 16, to discuss new theories concerning Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The event...
View ArticleEffect of Jupiter on Earth impact rate
Quantifying Jupiter's influence on the Earth's impact flux: Implications for planetary habitability Looks like the idea that you need a Jupiter to protect against impacts doesn't really work so well.
View ArticleVenus' changing rotation rate?
http://www.universetoday.com/93494/is-venus-rotation-slowing-down/ Thoughts?
View ArticleUranus Aurorae observed from Earth
Finally. http://spaceref.com/uranus/auroras-on-uranus-seen-from-earth.html Notable for general ice giant studies. I feel the ice giants are the least understood type of planet. They've always...
View ArticleThe faint young Sun problem
The faint young Sun problem Nice review of the faint young Sun problem and various proposed solutions. So far this issue has not yet been resolved in a satisfactory manner. Presumably other habitable...
View Articleplate tectonics
Many sugested it is impossible on smaller planets than earth including venus and exoplanets but surprise http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120809155831.htm
View ArticleOrientation of the Uranian satellites
NOTE: Explaining why the Uranian satellites have equatorial prograde orbits despite the large planetary obliquity Explaining the current orbital configuration of the Uranian regular satellites...
View ArticleUranus and Neptune
What do we Really Know about Uranus and Neptune? Despite usually being regarded as "twin planets", Uranus and Neptune may have very different internal structure. This may be because of the effects of...
View ArticleIAU redefinition of the astronomical unit
New Scientist: Sizing up a new measuring ruler for the solar system The IAU has voted to change the definition of the astronomical unit. It is now defined as being exactly 149597870700 metres, and the...
View ArticleThe waters of Mars
Curiosity has found some rounded rocks that look like they may have been eroded by a stream. Curiosity finds evidence of ancient stream on Mars
View ArticleEarly Mars and the faint young Sun
3D modelling of the early Martian Climate under a denser CO2 atmosphere: Temperatures and CO2 ice clouds Still no convincing model to get a climate supporting liquid water on early Mars.
View ArticleLethally hot climate in the early Triassic
New Scientist: Roasting Triassic heat exterminated tropical life Science paper (if you have access) Earth may not always have had such a nice climate, even during the history of multicellular life....
View ArticleOxygen levels in the Earth's atmosphere
SpaceRef: Oxygen's Ups and Downs in the Early Atmosphere and Ocean Possibly the Earth's atmosphere had high levels of oxygen around 2.32.2 Ga which then fell off again. Interesting implications for...
View ArticleIce, maybe organics on Mercury
MESSENGER Finds New Evidence for Water Ice at Mercury's Poles http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/media/PressConf20121129.html Some of the ice is buried under "unusually dark material" that may...
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NASA Mars announcement?
Apparently there may be something coming up, arsenic bacteria on Mars maybe? http://www.npr.org/2012/11/20/165513016/big-news-from-mars-rover-scientists-mum-for-now
View ArticleVoyaging into interstellar space
Thought we had a Voyager 1 thread, guess not. (Incidentally the Voyager missions, particularly Voyager 2 are probably my favourite space missions ever. I doubt we will see an ice giant planet up close...
View ArticleActive volcanoes on Venus? Maybe...
SpaceRef: Have Venusian Volcanoes Been Caught in the Act? Some tantalising hints from sulphur dioxide levels, though the changes could also be due to variability in the atmospheric circulation.
View ArticleSaturn's north pole
Wow... http://spaceref.com/saturn/peering-into-the-storm-at-saturns-north-pole.html
View ArticleImpact in Russia
Meteorite hits Russia, hundreds of people injured. http://www.theage.com.au/environment/meteor-shower-over-russia-sees-meteorites-hit-earth-20130215-2ei2j.html Haven't heard of any people being killed...
View ArticleRock-dominated Uranus and Neptune?
The D/H ratio in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune from Herschel PACS observations http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.5781 ... Conversely, adopting a cometary D/H for the protoplanetary ices between...
View ArticleIo's volcanoes are in the wrong place
Scientists to Io: Volcanoes are in the Wrong Spot http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-125 The volcanoes aren't where the solid body tidal models say they should be. More evidence in...
View ArticleMeteorite from Mercury?
Perhaps this greenish rock is the first known Mercurian meteorite? http://spaceref.com/mercury/first-meteorite-from-mercury-found.html
View ArticleCharged "rain" from Saturn's rings
JPL: Blame it on the Rain (from Saturn's Rings) Charged particles of water from Saturn's rings are drawn along magnetic field lines and "rain" into the atmosphere. This appears to be quenching the...
View ArticleMercury's rotation suggests it has a liquid core
Radar Exposes Mercury's Interior http://spaceref.com/mercury/radar-exposes-mercurys-interior.html Ground-based radar suggests that Mercury must have a liquid (outer) core, which fits with the...
View ArticleKronoseismology
Oscillations in Saturn's interior appear to be driving the formation of spiral patterns in Saturn's C ring. News release: Cosmic quiver: Saturn's vibrations create spirals in rings...
View ArticleVenus trojan?
http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.5013 Venus has three known co-orbitals: (322756) 2001 CK32, 2002 VE68 and 2012 XE133. The first two have absolute magnitudes 18 < H < 21. The third one, significantly...
View ArticleLargest planet in the solar system could be about to be discovered (4x Jupiter)
Largest planet in the solar system could be about to be discovered (4x Jupiter) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1356748/Search-Tyche-believed-largest-planet-solar-system.html ^...
View ArticleA centaur with rings
BBC: Icy Chariklo asteroid has ring system Discovered by occultation of the star UCAC4 248-108672: two rings 7 km and 3 km wide, with a gap of 9 km in-between orbiting the centaur (10199) Chariklo.
View ArticleGravitational Anomalies in the Solar System
I found this article at the physics arXiv blog (which incidentally is a fascinating site in itself), entitled The Puzzle of Astronomy's Unexplained Anomalies, pointing to the actual arXiv paper...
View ArticleJupiter vs Earth Habitability
I searched, but didn't immediately find a related thread on this subject. http://phys.org/news/2014-04-mighty-jupiter-earth-habitability.html Is Jupiter a friendly planet, Earth's enemy, or perhaps...
View ArticleThe moon and CoRoT-7b
CoRoT-7b inspires a study of the origin of the moon's chemical gradient and the difference between the landscapes of the nearside and farside. Articles on the AstroWright blog: A Hard Rain's A-Gonna...
View ArticleSubduction on Europa?
SpaceRef: Evidence of 'Diving' Tectonic Plates on Jupiter's Moon Europa Apparently there's evidence that Europa's ice crust has subduction zones, which is the first time these features have been seen...
View ArticleOrigin of water in the solar system
Cleeves et al. (2014) "The ancient heritage of water ice in the solar system" http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.7398 Suggests a fair fraction of the Earth's water originated from the parent molecular cloud...
View ArticleEnceladus may have "fluffy" interior
New Scientist: "Cold moon Enceladus has heart of warm fluff" Suggests that the reason for the geyser activity on Enceladus is due to it having a "fluffy" interior with mixed rock and ice. Has potential...
View ArticleHow planetary building blocks evolved from porous to hard objects
University of Chicago news release: Study shows how planetary building blocks evolved from porous to hard objects Research paper: Bland et al. (2014) "Pressuretemperature evolution of primordial solar...
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Did we lose our inner planets?
New Scientist: Mercury may be sole survivor of planetary pile-up Reporting on a presentation given at the AAS (the abstract can be found on the website but it doesn't seem to support direct links to...
View ArticleTETHYS
This is very weird http://astronomy.com/news/2015/07/unusual-red-arcs-spotted-on-saturns-icy-moon-tethys
View ArticleExtreme TNOs discovered by ALMA?
A new submm source within a few arcseconds of α Centauri: ALMA discovers the most distant object of the solar system http://arxiv.org/abs/1512.02652 The serendipitous discovery of a possible new solar...
View ArticleNinth planet
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160120114539.htm So far from sun it is rather doubtful to have enough volatile to become gas or ice giant it is rather large super earth with at least half...
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New Horizons
Today, New Horizons is 1/4 done with it's journey to Pluto. As of May 29, the spacecraft was 9.97 AU from Sol, speeding away at 18.31 km s^-1.
View ArticleAsteroids in retrograde resonances
Exoplanets inspiring studies of solar system dynamics... Asteroids in retrograde resonance with Jupiter and Saturn http://arxiv.org/abs/1308.0216 2006 BZ8 is in a 2:-5 resonance with Jupiter, while...
View ArticleThe First Official Plutonian Surface Names!
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-features-given-first-official-names Its official: Plutos heart now bears the name of pioneering American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930....
View ArticlePossible interstellar asteroid 1I/ʻOumuamua
Looks like our solar system may have recently had a visitor from somewhere else. Apparently not from one of the very nearest systems, though. Not sure whether this goes under the solar system news or...
View ArticleA lake on Mars?
Possible discovery of a lake under the Martian south pole, based on data from MARSIS instrument on the ESA Mars Express probe. SpaceRef:...
View ArticleKordylewski clouds confirmed?
Possible confirmation of dust clouds in the lunar Trojan points: http://spaceref.com/asteroids/earths-dust-cloud-satellites-confirmed.html
View ArticleForming moons around ice giants
Looks like the moons of Uranus could form from a circumplanetary disc, despite the relatively low masses of the ice giant planets, as opposed to requiring some kind of collision. This also suggests...
View ArticleAn upper limit on the Martian biomass
"A Maximum Subsurface Biomass on Mars from Untapped Free Energy: CO and H2 as Potential Antibiosignatures" https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.08501 The calculations in the paper suggest that Martian life is...
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