🌍 Gravity is the quiet sculptor of worlds, shaping orbits and the weight beneath our feet. How might a 70 kg mass feel under the pull of different planets?
✍️ Explore the full story: https://TPC8.short.gy/Flm5GzXR
🌌 From apples to exoplanets, gravity quietly links every step we take to the wider cosmos.
#Gravity #Physics #Space #PlanetaryScience #SciComm #Astrophysics #TPC8
#PPOD: The Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube traveled alongside NASA’s DART to capture the spacecraft’s collision with Dimorphos. In this LICIACube image, taken moments after impact on Sept. 26, 2022, rocky debris can be seen fanning out from the smaller asteroid below its larger binary partner, Didymos.
Credit: ASI/NASA
Researchers may have uncovered a brand-new mineral on Mars, a discovery that could reshape planetary science and inspire future missions.
#MarsDiscovery #NewMineralOnMars #SpaceExploration #PlanetaryScience #MarsMission
https://www.scientificworldinfo.com/2026/03/signs-of-a-brand-new-mineral-on-mars.html
#PPOD: The Moon appears red during a total lunar eclipse over New Orleans, home of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, on March 3, 2026. This “blood moon” occurs during a total lunar eclipse, as Earth lines up between the Moon and the Sun. When this happens, the only light that reaches the Moon’s surface is from the edges of Earth’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker
Io, lune de Jupiter, encaisse des marées gravitationnelles extrêmes. Résultat : le monde le plus volcanique du système solaire.
https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/la-science-cqfd/la-lune-io-souffre-douleur-de-jupiter-3643898
#Space #Science #Innovation #Astrophysics #PlanetaryScience #IoMoon #JupiterSystem
🛰️ New paper by Knowles et al.: Using the #JWST, the authors observed rapid variability in the auroral footprints of #Jupiter’s #moons in Jupiter’s #atmosphere.
IR observations show that the footprints of moons like #Io can change on short timescales, highlighting the dynamic interaction between Jupiter’s #magnetosphere and its satellites. The moon–magnetosphere coupling driving Jupiter’s #aurora is more variable than previously assumed.
#PPOD: JWST successfully observed the extremely faint near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 (circled in green) on 18 February 2026 with its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). By analyzing the asteroid’s position relative to background stars whose locations are very well known, astronomers were able to rule out any chance that the asteroid could impact Earth’s Moon on 22 December 2032. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Micheli (ESA NEOCC)
#Mikrobiologie:Könnte Leben durchs Sonnensystem reisen?
https://dauckchristian.home.blog/2026/03/07/mikrobiologie-planeten-hopping-der-mikroben-konnte-leben-durch-meteoriten-durchs-sonnensystem-reisen/ #Astrobiology #Panspermie #Marsforschung #Extremophile #DeinococcusRadiodurans #MarsSampleReturn #Perseverance #ExoMars #Phobos #MMXMission #PlanetaryScience #OriginsOfLife #SpaceScience #microbiology
Very interesting for #PlanetaryScience and #PlanetaryDefense !
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vb4kw7d26aomgimauersp7ge/post/3mghskmndhs2m
🛰️ New paper by Němec et al.: After analyzing ~10 years of #MAVEN wave data, the authors report a #lightning-like electromagnetic #whistler signal in the #Martian #ionosphere. Its frequency dispersion matches theoretical propagation through #Mars’ ionosphere and crustal magnetic fields, suggesting that electrical discharges may occur in the Martian #atmosphere.
#PPOD: Martian 'Spiderwebs' Up Close
From orbit, parts of Mars look like sprawling spiderwebs etched across the hillsides. These patterns may record a time when groundwater flowed through large fractures in the rock, leaving minerals behind. Over time, those minerals hardened into ridges while the surrounding rock—lacking that reinforcement—was slowly worn away by wind.
📄 JWST Thermal Emission of the Terrestrial Exoplanet GJ 1132b
Quicklook:
Xue, Qiao et al. (2024) · The Astrophysical Journal
Reads: 166 · Citations: 49
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad72e9
🔗 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ...973L...8X/abstract
#Astronomy #Astrophysics #Exoplanets #PlanetaryScience #ExoplanetAstronomy
Analysis of ancient zircon grains indicates that early Earth experienced rapid oxidation shortly after its formation and confirms that plate tectonics were active much earlier than previously recognized.
#Geochemistry #Geoscience #PlanetaryScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/03/es03032602.html
Icy or Rocky Giants?
On the outskirts of our solar system, two enigmatic giants loom: Uranus and Neptune. In terms of mass and size, both resemble many of the exoplanets discovered in recent years. Within our own solar system, these planets are known as “icy giants,” but a new study suggests that moniker may be wrong.
Pinning down the interior composition of a planet is tough on limited measurements. In the case of these outer planets, our main data is gravitational, recorded from visiting spacecraft. That information cannot tell us directly what the composition of a planet is, but it gives constraints for what materials could produce such a gravitational field.
In their simulation, researchers began with random interior configurations for Uranus and Neptune, then had the model iterate through configurations to simultaneously match the gravitational measurements while satisfying the thermodynamic and physical constraints of a stable planet. By repeating the process several times, the researchers created a catalog of potential interiors for Uranus and Neptune. And while some were water-rich–consistent with the “icy giant” title–others were remarkably rocky.
The team suggests that we may need to retire that moniker and consider the possibility that these worlds are more like our own than we thought. To find out which is true, we will need more spacecraft to visit our frigid neighbors, to provide new gravitational measurements and other observations. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/A. Simon/M. Wong/A. Hsu; research credit: R. Morf and L. Helled; via Physics World)
#fluidDynamics #geophysics #Neptune #numericalSimulation #physics #planetaryScience #science
#PPOD: Korea’s Kompsat-2 satellite captured this image over the sand seas of the Namib Desert on 7 January 2012. The blue-and-white area is the dry riverbed of the Tsauchab. Black dots of vegetation are concentrated close to the river’s main route, while salt deposits appear bright white. Running through the river valley, a road connects Sossusvlei to the Sesriem settlement. Credit: KARI/ESA
Welcome to this week's installment of the Scientific Frontline publication’s "What Is" series. In this comprehensive research report, the focus turns toward the most intricate, dynamic, and fragile phenomenon known to modern science: the biosphere. Earth remains, according to all current astronomical observations, a solitary oasis of vitality in an otherwise sterile cosmic void.
#WhatIs #EarthScience #Ecology #EvolutionaryBiology #Environmental #PlanetaryScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/03/wi03012601.html
Dr. Kimberly Bott received her PhD from the University of New South Wales, working on exoplanet polarimetry (observation and computational modeling). Subsequently, she held postdoc positions at the Virtual Planetary Laboratory and UC Riverside.
Currently, Dr. Bott is investigating the observability of terrestrial exoplanets in polarized light with contemporary and near-future telescopes and how the method might be used to map those worlds.
🔴Do you know that the seasonal streaks on #Mars’ Martian slopes often result from dust storms, not water? 🌪️Research by Alfred S. McEwen, Ethan Schaefer, Colin M. Dundas, Sarah S Sutton, Leslie K Tamppari, and Matthew Chojnacki found that many new streaks appeared after the massive 2018 dust storm. Learn more from their dataset & article at https://doi.org/10.25422/azu.data.13385120 & https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JE006575. Image: McEwen et al. (2021). CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. #OpenData #OpenScience #PlanetaryScience #UniversityofArizona
#PPOD: With Mars on the opposite side of the Sun at dawn, only six planets were visible in this year's planetary parade, unlike last year, when all seven were in view. The timing of this shot was critical for the fainter planets, and astrophotographer Josh Dury cross-referenced planispheres to confirm their location. Credit: Josh Dury
Wonderful re-introduction to the Uranian planetary system by #Astrum with all the latest updates. 🪐
If 18th century astronomers had named this #IceGiant #planet: after the Roman god of the sky instead of the Greek one, then #ElonMusk would be wearing an "Occupy Caelus" T-shirt instead of an "Occupy Mars" T-shirt. 🤷
#Uranus #Space #PlanetaryScience #Astronomy #Atmosphere #Moon #Oberon #Titania #Umbriel #Ariel #Ring #UOP #UranusOrbiterAndProbe #NASA #DecadalSurvey
