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planetary science

Latest Articles

Spinning globe highlighting LLVSPs.
geophysics

Continents of the Underworld Come Into Focus

By Joshua Sokol
January 7, 2020
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Giant blobs nestled deep in the Earth may influence everything from the structure of island chains to mass-extinction events.

Saturn’s rings colored by particle size.
planetary science

Are Saturn’s Rings Really as Young as the Dinosaurs?

By Robin George Andrews
November 21, 2019
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A surprisingly youthful estimate of the age of the rings has stirred a backlash.

planetary science

Wandering Space Rocks Help Solve Mysteries of Planet Formation

By Rebecca Boyle
July 16, 2019
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After an interstellar asteroid shot past the sun, scientists realized that there’s probably a lot of itinerant rocks out there.

Abstractions blog

A Close Look at Newborn Planets Reveals Hints of Infant Moons

By Joshua Sokol
June 11, 2019
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Astronomers have discovered a complex planetary system still swirling into existence.

Art for "As Planet Discoveries Pile Up, a Gap Appears in the Pattern"
Abstractions blog

As Planet Discoveries Pile Up, a Gap Appears in the Pattern

By Rebecca Boyle
May 16, 2019
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Astronomers are puzzling over a paucity of planets in the galaxy measuring between 1.5 and two times Earth’s size.

Art for "Black, Hot Ice, Newly Seen in the Lab, May Be Nature's Commonest Form of Water"
chemistry

Black, Hot Ice May Be Nature’s Most Common Form of Water

By Joshua Sokol
May 8, 2019
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A new experiment confirms the existence of “superionic ice,” a bizarre form of water that might comprise the bulk of giant icy planets throughout the universe.

PHOTO: Sarah Hörst in her lab at JHU
Q&A

The Scientist Who Cooks Up the Skies of Faraway Worlds

By Shannon Hall
April 8, 2019
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Astronomers will soon take their first glance at the atmosphere of a distant exoplanet. Sarah Hörst is writing the guidebook for these exoplanetary explorers, one that will reveal what a distinctive atmosphere says about the world underneath.

planetary science

Asteroid Rate Jumped in Solar System’s Past

By Joshua Sokol
January 17, 2019
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An analysis of lunar craters has found that we’ve been living in a relatively violent period in cosmic history.

Q&A

The Woman Who Gets Called When a Piece of Mars Falls From the Sky

By Rebecca Boyle
December 18, 2018
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Planetary geologist Meenakshi Wadhwa uses Martian meteorites to trace the history of our solar system.


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