Planets and space bodies – The Watchers

Auroras on Jupiter flash in seconds, defying old models

Harsh Vardhan — Sun, 25 May 2025 12:13:00 +0000

The largest planet in the solar system is putting on a show no telescope has fully caught before. New data from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the gas giant’s auroras flickering in bursts measured in seconds, not minutes. Scientists now face fresh questions about where that power comes from.

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First visible-light aurora on Mars detected from the surface

Harsh Vardhan — Fri, 16 May 2025 00:05:00 +0000

A visible aurora has been recorded from the surface of Mars for the first time. NASA’s Perseverance rover detected a faint green glow of atomic oxygen triggered by a solar storm, confirming long-standing predictions about atmospheric emissions. The detection provides a new way to study Martian space weather from the surface.

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How Perseverance’s findings are changing our understanding of Mars

Harsh Vardhan — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 16:01:19 +0000

Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Perseverance rover have discovered diverse volcanic rocks in Jezero Crater. The findings point to prolonged volcanic activity and possible past water interaction, raising new questions about Mars’ potential to support life.

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128 new moons discovered around Saturn

Rishav Kothari — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:04:40 +0000

Astronomers have discovered 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, increasing the planet’s total to 274—more than any other in the Solar System. The discovery was made using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, with observations conducted in 2023.

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Unexpected size changes observed in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

TW — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 08:13:30 +0000

Astronomers have discovered that Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS), the largest storm in the solar system, is undergoing a surprising oscillation in shape. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope collected over 90 days, researchers observed fluctuations in the storm’s size, shape, and speed.

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Discovery of a diamond-rich core-mantle boundary offers new information into Mercury’s evolution

Harsha Borah — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:47:09 +0000

Scientists discovered that Mercury may have a 16 km (10-mile) thick diamond layer at its core-mantle barrier. This revelation, based on NASA’s MESSENGER mission data and high-pressure laboratory experiments, shed new light on the planet’s complicated interior structure and thermal development. The team was led by Yongjiang Xu and Yanhao Lin of the Center for...

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30 years since the historic collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter

Harsha Borah — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:47:32 +0000

Thirty years ago, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter, marking a historic moment in astronomy. This collision gave scientists a first-of-its-kind direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision within our Solar System, providing important information regarding Jupiter’s atmosphere and its role in protecting the inner planets from cosmic debris.

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Mars meteorite impact rate uncovered by new study using NASA’s InSight

Rishav Kothari — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 12:26:29 +0000

A new study published in Nature Astronomy combined orbital imagery with seismological data from NASA's Mars InSight lander to derive a new impact rate for meteorite strikes on Mars.

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Giant volcano discovered in Mars’ Tharsis volcanic province

Teo Blašković — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:45:00 +0000

Scientists at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas, announced the discovery of a vast volcano and a potential glacier ice sheet in Mars' Tharsis volcanic province, near the equator. The finding, based on images from spacecraft orbiting Mars since 1971, highlights a volcano provisionally named "Noctis" and suggests the presence of glacier ice beneath a volcanic deposit. This discovery opens new avenues for studying Mars' geological evolution and future exploration.

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Astronomers discover first new moon of Uranus in over two decades and two new moons of Neptune

Teo Blašković — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 20:20:48 +0000

The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced the discovery of three new moons, marking the first Uranian moon found in over 20 years and two additional satellites orbiting Neptune, one being the faintest moon ever detected by ground-based telescopes.

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