Mars Might Have Once Hosted Larger Moons

Posted on December 12, 2025 by

Gale Crater on Mars

ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy

There may have been ancient tides on Mars, suggesting the presence of larger moons capable of influencing the planet’s waters. Currently, Mars has two small moons that aren’t sufficient for this theory.

Suniti Karunatilake and researchers from Louisiana State University discovered signs of tidal activity in Gale Crater’s sedimentary layers.

By examining these layers, they inferred the nature of the tidal cycles and the potential moon responsible for them. If such a moon existed, it would have been significantly larger than Phobos, Mars’ biggest moon, yet still smaller than Earth’s moon. The two current Martian moons might be remnants of a larger satellite.

Mr. Karunatilake is set to present the findings at the upcoming American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The sedimentary rocks that supported their conclusions were captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover, displaying alternating layers of varying thicknesses and colors. These strata are termed rhythmite, indicating that they were formed by winds or ocean currents of fluctuating strength. In tidal scenarios, sand is transported back and forth, covered by fine mud when the tide recedes.

The rhythm of strong winds leaves thin, dark lines indicative of “mud drapes,” which “resemble Earth’s tidal patterns closely,” notes team member Priyabrata Das, also from Louisiana State University.

To bolster their hypothesis, Ranjan Sarkar from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research utilized a standard mathematical technique called the Fourier transform to evaluate the layered structures in Martian rocks. This analysis revealed additional periodicity in layer thicknesses, implying that both the sun and a past moon may have influenced the tides.

This analysis may validate the idea initially put forth by Rajat Mazumdar from the German Institute of Technology in Oman. In 2023, Mazumdar suggested that layered formations observed by NASA’s Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater could indicate tidal activity. Unfortunately, the resolution of these images was insufficient for Fourier analysis. Enthused by the Gail rhythmite findings, Mazumdar emphasizes that rhythmite on Earth is strong evidence of tidal conditions.

However, skepticism remains. The lakes in Jezero and Gale craters, sized at 45 kilometers and 154 kilometers respectively, are considered too small to exhibit significant tidal flooding. Nicholas Mangold, a member of NASA’s Perseverance Mars team at the Institute for Planetary and Earth Sciences in Nantes, France, argues that larger moons wouldn’t have left tidal traces in these locations.

Christopher Fed, a professor at the University of Tennessee working with NASA on the Curiosity mission, also finds the notion of a larger moon problematic, suggesting that tidal-like patterns could emerge from varying river inflows instead.

Nevertheless, Sarkar believes a tidal connection is feasible. “The ocean might have linked to Gale, and even subsurface porosity could create tides. Mars’ surface is extensively cracked and crated, meaning porosity isn’t an issue,” he argues.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Three Key Factors That Likely Shaped the Moon’s Formation in Earth’s Early History

Posted on December 3, 2025 by

The moon may have had a more intricate formation than previously believed.

NASA/NOAA

Recent theories suggest that multiple collisions with Earth might better elucidate the Moon’s origin than the traditionally accepted single massive impact 4.5 billion years ago, potentially addressing one of its greatest enigmas.

Tracing the Moon’s origin has proven challenging. The prevailing theory is that it formed early in the solar system’s evolution due to a catastrophic collision between Earth and Theia, a Mars-sized body, and its formation likely originated closer to the sun than Earth’s current position. This impact would have expelled debris that ultimately coalesced into the large natural satellite we recognize today. At that period, matter around the sun was highly intermixed, making collisions frequent.

However, this prevailing model encounters complications, as the chemical compositions of Earth and the Moon are remarkably similar, suggesting that the Moon should retain more material from Theia than our planet does. “This presents a significant dilemma for the standard model,” comments Philip Carter, a researcher at the University of Bristol, UK.

Carter and his team propose a paradigm shift, suggesting that a series of impacts with Earth over millions of years may provide a more coherent explanation for the compositional similarities between Earth and the Moon. They propose that three or more significant impacts in the early solar system, involving bodies from the size of the modern Moon to those approaching Mars in size, could account for the Moon’s creation as we observe it today.

In this revised model, each impact creates smaller moons, known as microsatellites, orbiting Earth. Over eons, these smaller bodies would progressively merge under gravitational attraction, forming a singular large entity. “They will be drawn to one another and collide,” explains Carter. “The probability of sustaining a stable system with multiple large moonlets is exceedingly low.”

Previous models also posited multiple impacts as the origin of the Moon; however, they typically required a more rigorous series of impacts than this current framework. “After three significant collisions, we introduced sufficient mass into orbit to form a full Moon,” stated Carter.

Robert Citron, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, suggests that fewer impacts might be more favorable since too many collisions could displace smaller satellites from Earth’s orbit and hinder Moon formation. However, as more impacts occur, the compositional alignment between Earth and the Moon increases, accurately reflecting their current similarities. “When multiple impacts are involved, you are averaging out more influencing factors,” Citron notes.

The unique relationship between Earth and the Moon underscores the necessity of understanding the Moon’s formation. “It is a remarkably distinctive satellite,” Citron emphasizes. “Its size relative to Earth is vast, whereas the moons of Mars appear minuscule in comparison to Mars, and the moons of gas giants are diminutive compared to their planets.”

Establishing which hypothesis is correct necessitates more intricate modeling to assess the impact’s intensity on Earth and the volume of material expelled. Carter remarks, “Calculating all these details remains exceedingly complex.” He adds, “Personally, I prefer the multi-impact model over the traditional single-impact theory.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

How Did Mars Acquire Its Moons? – Cyworthy

Posted on December 2, 2025 by

The moon of Earth stands out as a prominent feature in our night sky. Scientists largely agree that during the early stages of Earth’s formation, a smaller, planet-like object collided with Earth, ejecting a substantial amount of material into space. This debris was subsequently pulled into orbit around Earth due to gravity and maintained a slow enough speed to become trapped in Earth’s gravitational field. However, the
giant impact hypothesis
has provided clarity on the origin of our moon. In contrast, the origins of other moons in our solar system, like the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, remain a topic of debate.

An alternate theory suggests that two small celestial bodies approached Mars early in its existence and collided with the gas and dust clouds left from its formation. This surrounding dust could have decelerated them sufficiently for Mars’ gravity to capture them. This theory is referred to as the
gas drag capture hypothesis
and may account for the existence of Phobos and Deimos. Furthermore, they are composed of
different materials
than those found on Mars
, which raises additional questions.

One challenge to this theory is that the dust density around Mars would have to be several times greater than current models of solar system formation indicate, to slow down approaching objects effectively. Additionally, there’s a question of probability. Although Phobos and Deimos both have orbits that lie within 2° of the Martian equator, the odds of both objects aligning with Mars at an angle that matches the equator is around only 0.00001%.

To investigate the viability of this scenario, two scientists from Japan developed a model aimed at calculating the trajectory of a Phobos-sized object approaching Mars. The aim was to show, through various challenges, that the gas drag trap hypothesis might not be as implausible as previously believed.

Phobos orbits Mars about 3,700 miles or 6,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface and is slowly falling towards Mars. Deimos orbits Mars at a distance of 14,600 miles, or 23,500 kilometers. “Mars Moons” by Muskid is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Initially, the researchers defined the pertinent equations of motion to include in their model. This included variables such as the angular velocity of an object approaching Mars, its distance from the planet, its potential energy, and the drag force that reduces its speed. Additionally, they factored in Mars’ mass and the state of the surrounding matter at the time, which they referred to as the primitive atmosphere of Mars. They estimated this atmosphere’s temperature at 200 Kelvin (approximately -73°C or -100°F) and its density at 4.7 × 10.^-7 kilograms per cubic meter, increasing near the Martian surface and decreasing exponentially with height.

Next, the team needed to establish the initial orbit of the incoming satellite, testing eight different speeds ranging from 20 meters/second to 160 meters/second (about 45 miles/hour to 360 miles/hour) in 20 meters/second increments. There were 4,096 angles of incidence to be tested relative to Mars’ equator and poles, leading to a total of 32,768 initial trajectory combinations for objects approaching Mars.

Their findings indicated three potential outcomes for objects entering Mars’ primordial atmosphere: they could escape Mars’ gravitational grasp, become temporarily trapped, or be permanently ensnared. Remarkably, nearly all objects approached at the slowest speeds were captured in some capacity, while only around 10% of those at the highest speeds were captured. The researchers posited that about 1 in 50 incoming objects would be permanently secured by Mars, particularly if they lost enough energy, limiting their orbits to within 10 degrees of Mars’ equator.

The research team proposed a potential history for Phobos and Deimos, suggesting that due to their composition, they likely formed in the outer solar system, possibly within or beyond the asteroid belt. Over time, they may have been scattered by Jupiter’s gravitational influence, gradually approaching Mars at the right angles and speeds to be captured by its gas, resulting in their current eccentric orbits. Eventually, their orbits became slower, more circular, and moved closer to Mars.

This proposed scenario aligns well with current observations of Phobos and Deimos. The research team anticipates that future
Mars satellite exploration
missions will further investigate these moons. The planned mission will orbit Mars and then Phobos, conducting detailed observations and remote sensing while collecting surface samples to return to Earth, enhancing our understanding of these moons’ origins. The mission is set to launch in 2026, with Phobos samples expected to arrive back on Earth in 2031.

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Source: sciworthy.com

A Recent Study Indicates That the Trans-Neptunian Object Quaar Has Two Moons.

Posted on November 25, 2025 by

A recently identified moon boasts an estimated diameter of 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) and a V magnitude of 28, marking it as the faintest moon ever found orbiting a trans-Neptunian object.

This image of Quaor and its satellite Waywot was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on February 14, 2006. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Michael E. Brown.

Discovered on June 4, 2002, Quaor is a trans-Neptunian object that measures approximately 1,100 km (690 miles) in diameter.

Similar to the dwarf planet Pluto, this object is located in the Kuiper Belt, which is a region filled with icy debris and comet-like entities.

The moon, known as 2002 LM60, orbits between 45.1 and 45.6 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, completing a full orbit every 284.5 years.

In 2006, astronomers found Quaor’s moon, Waywot. This moon has a diameter of 80 km (50 miles) and orbits at a radius of 24 km around Quaor.

Recently, two rings named Q1R and Q2R were discovered encircling Quaor.

“Over the past decade, stellar occultations have shown that rings can exist around small celestial bodies,” explained Benjamin Proudfoot, an astronomer at the Florida Space Institute, along with his colleagues.

“Of these small ring systems, the ring around Quaor is perhaps the most enigmatic.”

“The two rings located so far are situated beyond Roche’s limits and exhibit heterogeneity.”

“Quaor’s outer ring, referred to as Q1R, seems to be partially confined by mean-motion resonance with Quaor’s moon Waywot and by spin-orbit resonance due to Quaor’s triaxial shape.”

“The inner ring, Q2R, appears to be less dense, and its confinement is more ambiguous.”

“Recently, simultaneous dropouts from two telescopes during a stellar occultation indicated the presence of a previously unknown dense ring surrounding a moon, or Quaor.”

“The dropout duration suggests a minimum diameter/width of 30 km.”

Artist’s rendition of Quaor and its two rings, featuring Quaor’s moon Waywot on the left. Image credit: ESA/Sci.News.

In a recent study, astronomers set out to determine the orbit of this new satellite candidate.

They discovered that the object likely follows a 3.6-day orbit, closely aligned with a 5:3 mean-motion resonance with Quaor’s outermost known ring.

Additional observations of satellites using stellar occultations were also considered.

“Quaoar will be favorably positioned within the Scute nebula for the next decade, offering optimal conditions for occultation during its 286-year orbit,” the researchers stated.

“Current ground-based and space telescopes may struggle to detect the newly identified moon due to its dimness (9 to 10 magnitudes fainter than Quaor) and its angular distance from Quaor.”

“Our analysis of Webb/NIRCam images from the Quaor system has not shown any definitive evidence of the satellite,” they remarked.

“Achieving direct imaging with present technologies would necessitate considerable telescope time to reacquire the satellite’s phase, even if it were indeed visible.”

“However, future telescope generations will likely be able to detect it easily.”
The discovery of this new moon offers insights suggesting that the ring surrounding Quaor was likely once part of a broad impact disk, which may have undergone significant changes since its formation, the researchers indicated.

“Studying the formation and evolution of the lunar disk system can yield valuable information about the origins of trans-Neptunian objects,” the researchers remarked.

“We advocate for advanced tidal mechanics, hydrodynamics, and collisional modeling of the Quaor system.”

The team’s paper has been submitted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

_____

Benjamin Proudfoot et al. 2025. Orbital characteristics of a newly discovered small satellite around Quaor. APJL in press. arXiv: 2511.07370

Source: www.sci.news

Study Reveals Two Moons Orbiting the Trans-Neptunian Object Quaar.

Posted on November 25, 2025 by

The recently identified moon has an approximate diameter of 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) and a V magnitude of 28, making it the faintest moon ever found orbiting a trans-Neptunian object.

This image of Quaor and its satellite Waywot was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on February 14, 2006. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Michael E. Brown.

Discovered on June 4, 2002, Quaor is a trans-Neptunian body approximately 1,100 km (690 miles) in diameter.

Similar to the dwarf planet Pluto, Quaor is located within the Kuiper Belt, a frigid region populated with comet-like objects.

The satellite, also referred to as 2002 LM60, orbits between 45.1 and 45.6 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, completing an orbit every 284.5 years.

In 2006, astronomers confirmed Quaor’s moon Waywot, measuring 80 km (50 miles) in diameter and orbiting at a radius of 24 around Quaor.

Recently, two rings, designated Q1R and Q2R, were identified surrounding Quaor.

“Stellar occultations over the last decade have indicated the presence of rings around small celestial bodies,” remarked Benjamin Proudfoot, an astronomer at the Florida Space Institute, alongside his colleagues.

“Among these small ring systems, the ring around Quaor is notably enigmatic.”

“The two rings discovered thus far lie well beyond Roche’s limits and exhibit heterogeneity.”

“Quaor’s outer ring, dubbed Q1R, seems to be at least partially confined by mean-motion resonance with Quaor’s moon Waywot, as well as by spin-orbit resonance linked to Quaor’s triaxial structure.”

“The inner ring, Q2R, appears less dense, and its confinement remains more indefinite.”

“Recently, simultaneous dropouts from two telescopes during a stellar occultation indicated the existence of a previously unidentified dense ring around a moon, or Quaor.”

“The length of the dropout suggests a minimum diameter/width of 30 km.”

Artist’s depiction of Quaor and its two rings, with Quaor’s satellite Waywot on the left. Image credit: ESA/Sci.News.

In a recent study, astronomers sought to further characterize the orbit of this new satellite candidate.

They determined that the object is likely on a 3.6-day orbit, close to a 5:3 mean-motion resonance with Quaor’s outermost known ring.

Additionally, they explored the potential for observing satellites through further stellar occultations.

“Quaor will be well-positioned within the Scute nebula for the next 10 years, providing the best opportunity for occultation throughout its 286-year orbit,” the researchers stated.

“Current ground-based and space-based telescopes will struggle to detect the newly discovered moon, given its brightness (9 to 10 magnitude fainter than Quaor) and its angular distance from Quaor.”

“Our analysis of Webb/NIRCam images from the Quaor system did not reveal any convincing evidence of the satellite,” they added.

“Direct imaging with existing equipment would necessitate considerable telescope time to blindly reacquire the satellite’s phase, even if the satellite were detectable.”

“However, future generations of telescopes will likely have the capability to easily observe it.”
The discovery of this new moon suggests that the ring around Quaor may have originally formed from a broad impact disk and may have undergone significant evolution since its creation, according to the researchers.

“Studying the formation and evolution of the lunar disk system will yield valuable insights into the development of trans-Neptunian objects,” they remarked.

“We advocate for advanced tidal mechanics, hydrodynamics, and collisional modeling of the Quaor system.”

The team’s paper has been submitted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

_____

Benjamin Proudfoot et al. 2025. Orbital characteristics of a newly discovered small satellite around Quaor. APJL in press. arXiv: 2511.07370

Source: www.sci.news

Southern Impact Reveals Magma Ocean in Moon’s Largest Crater: Study

Posted on October 10, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Approximately 4.3 billion years ago, during the early formation of our solar system, a massive asteroid collided with the far side of the moon, resulting in the creation of the South Pole-Aitken Basin—an enormous crater. This feature, the largest on the moon, spans over 1,200 miles in length and 1,000 miles in width. Its rectangular shape is attributed to a glancing impact rather than a direct hit. Challenging previous beliefs that the basin was formed by an asteroid coming from the south, recent research indicates that the narrowing shape of the basin towards the south suggests an impact from the north.

The South Pole-Aitken Impact Basin on the far side of the Moon was formed by a southward impact. Image credit: Jeff Andrews-Hanna / University of Arizona / NASA / National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

“The downstream edge of the basin should have a thick layer of material that was excavated from the moon’s interior by the impact, while the upper edge should not,” explained Dr. Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona.

“This suggests that the Artemis mission will target the downrange rim of the basin, an ideal site to examine the moon’s largest and oldest impact basins, where most of the ejecta, consisting of material from deep within the moon, are likely to be gathered.”

Historically, it has been believed that early moons were molten due to the energy released during their formation, resulting in a magma ocean that enveloped the entire moon.

As this magma ocean solidified, heavy minerals settled to create the Moon’s mantle, while lighter minerals floated upwards to form the Earth’s crust.

Nevertheless, certain elements were not incorporated into the solid mantle and crust, but instead became concentrated in the last liquid remnants of the magma ocean.

These “residual” elements, including potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus, are collectively known as KREEP.

Dr. Andrews-Hanna and his team noted that these elements appear to be especially abundant on the moon’s near side.

“If you’ve ever frozen a can of soda, you might have noticed that high fructose corn syrup doesn’t freeze all the way through and instead accumulates at the bottom of the liquid,” remarked Dr. Andrews-Hanna.

“We believe a similar phenomenon occurred on the moon with KREEP.”

“Over millions of years, as it cooled, the magma ocean crystallized into the crust and mantle.”

“Eventually, only a small amount of liquid remained trapped between the mantle and the crust, which is this KREEP-rich material.”

“The abundance of KREEP’s heat-producing elements somehow concentrated on the moon’s near side, causing it to heat up and initiate intense volcanic activity, thus creating the dark volcanic plains visible from Earth.”

“However, the process by which this KREEP-rich material became concentrated on the near side and how it evolved remains an enigma.”

“The moon’s crust is considerably thicker on the far side compared to the near side that faces Earth, a discrepancy that continues to puzzle scientists.”

“This asymmetry influences various aspects of the moon’s development, including the final stages of the magma ocean.”

“Our hypothesis posits that as the far side’s crust thickened, the underlying magma ocean was forced outward, akin to squeezing toothpaste from a tube, causing most of it to accumulate on the near side.”

A recent investigation of the Antarctic Aitken Basin has uncovered unexpected asymmetries supporting this scenario. The western ejecta blanket is rich in radioactive thorium, while the eastern side is not.

This indicates that the rift left by the impact formed a conduit through the moon’s crust, near the boundary separating the “normal” crust from the underlying layers that contain the final remnants of the KREEP-rich magma ocean.

“Our research shows that the distribution and composition of these materials align with predictions derived from modeling the later stages of magma ocean evolution,” stated Dr. Andrews-Hanna.

“The last remnants of the Moon’s magma ocean have reached the near side, where the concentration of radioactive elements is at its peak.”

“However, prior to this, there may have been a thin, patchy layer of magma ocean beneath parts of the far side, explaining the presence of radioactive ejecta on one flank of the Antarctic Aitken Basin.”

For further information, refer to the study published in the journal Nature.

_____

JC Andrews-Hanna et al. 2025. The southern impact excavated a magma ocean in the Moon’s South Pole Aitken Basin. Nature 646, 297-302; doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09582-y

Source: www.sci.news

The Formation of the Moon’s Largest Crater Was Surprising

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

The Antarctic Aitken Basin (the predominantly blue region in the center of this topographic representation) is an impact feature roughly 2500 kilometers in diameter, covered by smaller craters.

NASA/GSFC/MIT

An in-depth investigation of its morphology reveals that the moon’s oldest and largest crater formed differently than previously believed, altering our understanding of lunar history.

The South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin emerged around 4.3 billion years ago, occurring hundreds of millions of years after the moon’s initial formation. Scientists theorize it was created when a colossal asteroid grazed the moon’s surface, producing a crater thousands of kilometers wide and 12 kilometers deep.

This crater, located on the moon’s far side, displays a substantial accumulation of ancient debris near its northern edge. This debris pattern aligns with what would be expected if an asteroid struck the Earth from a southerly trajectory, below the South Pole.

However, new findings indicate a different scenario. Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna from The University of Arizona and his team discovered that the crater narrows towards the south. Andrews-Hanna noted that this teardrop shape implies the asteroid originated from the north, with the cataclysmic impact occurring from the opposite direction.

Mapping the basin’s shape is challenging due to the erosion of its ancient boundaries from later impacts. “We traced the contours of the Antarctic Aitken Basin using every conceivable method,” states Andrews-Hanna. “Models of topography, gravity, and crustal thickness were employed. We explored various approaches for tracing the basin, but with every method, it consistently tapered to the south.”

The researchers then contrasted its shape to well-studied craters on other celestial bodies, such as Mars’ Hellas and Utopia Craters. This comparison has provided clearer geological evidence on how these craters formed, leading them to conclude that the SPA basin’s shape likely resulted from an asteroid impacting from the north.

This new understanding will significantly affect how the moon’s internal material is distributed, aiding scientists in comprehending the moon’s cooling process from a massive ocean of magma during its formative years. It also suggests that some rocks around the SPA basin’s perimeter originate from the moon’s deep interior, which remains otherwise inaccessible.

This insight will enhance NASA’s forthcoming Artemis III mission, which aims to deploy astronauts to the SPA basin’s edge in search of potential water ice, as highlighted by Mahesh Anand from the Open University, UK. “This will provide opportunities to learn more about the moon’s interior, despite the lack of available samples,” he adds. “It’s a significant advantage.”

Ultimately, however, the true nature of the crater’s formation will only be clarified when samples from the SPA basin are returned to Earth, according to Anand.

Total Solar Eclipse 2027 Cruise: Spain and Morocco

Join us for an incredible adventure aboard the cutting-edge exploration vessel Douglas Mawson to experience the longest total solar eclipse of the century on August 2, 2027.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Hubble Explores the Surface Conditions of Uranus’s Moons: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon

Posted on June 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

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A recent study by astronomers utilizing the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope aimed to uncover signs of interaction between Uranus’ magnetic environment and the surfaces of its four largest moons: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. The researchers predicted that, due to interactions with Uranus’ magnetosphere, the “leading” sides of these tidally locked moons should be brighter and more consistently illuminated compared to their “trailing” sides. This expectation stemmed from the belief that radiation darkening occurs on the trailing sides due to charged particles, such as electrons, captured in Uranus’ magnetosphere. However, their observations revealed no evidence of darkening on the trailing sides of the moons but found evident darkening on the leading side of the outer moon instead.

This web image displays Uranus alongside six of its 27 known moons (most of which are too small to be captured in this brief exposure). Image credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/J. DEPASQUALE, STSCI.

Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon are tidally locked, consistently presenting the same faces toward Uranus.

The hemisphere of the moon that faces the direction of its orbit is termed the leading hemisphere, while the side that turns away is the trailing hemisphere.

The initial hypothesis suggested that charged particles captured along the magnetic field lines would hit the trailing sides of each moon, leading to darkening of those hemispheres.

“They are working diligently to understand this phenomenon,” noted Dr. Richard Cartwright, a researcher affiliated with the Institute of Applied Physics at Johns Hopkins University.

“To start, Uranus has an axial tilt of 98 degrees relative to its orbit.”

“This significant tilt means Uranus is dramatically askew in relation to the planetary orbital plane. Completing its 84-year orbit, it rolls quite slowly around the sun.”

“Observations during the Voyager 2 flyby indicated that Uranus’ magnetosphere was tilted about 59 degrees from the satellite’s orbital plane, suggesting a further inclination in the magnetic field.”

Uranus’ magnetic field lines rotate more swiftly than the moons orbit the planet, resulting in the magnetic field lines continuously sweeping by the moons.

If the Uranus magnetosphere interacts with the moons, the charged particles should preferentially strike the surface of the leading side.

These charged particles and cosmic rays from our galaxy could potentially cause darkening effects on the trailing hemispheres of Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon, which could lead to the presence of carbon dioxide detected on these moons.

Astronomers anticipated that the trailing hemispheres would show greater darkness compared to the leading ones, particularly for the inner moons, Ariel and Umbriel.

However, the findings contradicted this expectation, revealing that the leading and trailing hemispheres of both Ariel and Umbriel are quite similar in brightness.

Conversely, researchers noted observable differences in the outer moons, Titania and Oberon.

In an intriguing twist, the brightness variations were opposite to their hypotheses.

Both outer moons exhibit a darker, reddish leading hemisphere contrasted against their brighter trailing hemispheres.

The research team suspects that dust from Uranus’ irregular satellites coats the leading hemispheres of Titania and Oberon.

Irregular satellites are celestial bodies characterized by large, eccentric, and inclined orbits inrelation to their parent planet’s equatorial plane.

Constant impacts from micrometeorites on Uranus’ irregular satellites eject small particles into orbits around the planet.

Over millions of years, this particulate matter drifts inward towards Uranus, eventually crossing the orbits of Titania and Oberon.

These outer moons effectively collect this dust, particularly on their leading hemispheres.

It’s analogous to an insect striking the windshield of a car as it drives down the freeway.

This accumulated material results in Titania and Oberon exhibiting darker, reddish leading hemispheres.

These outer moons appear to shield Ariel and Umbriel from dust, resulting in no noticeable brightness differences for the inner moons.

“I believe a similar process occurs within the Saturn system and possibly the Jupiter system,” stated Dr. Brian Holler, an astronomer at the Institute of Space Telescope Science.

“This represents some of the first evidence we’ve gathered regarding material exchanges between Uranus’ moons.”

“It supports an alternative theory involving dust accumulation. I wasn’t initially inclined to accept this hypothesis, but the data often takes you by surprise,” Dr. Cartwright remarked.

These revelations lead scientists to suspect that Uranus’ magnetosphere may possess a more complex structure than previously assumed.

While there may be interactions between Uranus’ moons and its magnetosphere, they do not seem to yield the predicted asymmetries in the leading and trailing hemispheres, contrary to initial expectations.

Unraveling this mystery will necessitate further exploration into the enigmatic Uranus, its magnetosphere, and its moons.

This revised text maintains the original HTML structure while presenting the information in a different manner.

Source: www.sci.news

Saturn boasts a total of 128 new moons, surpassing all other planets combined

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Saturn currently has a total of 274 moons

nasa/jpl/space science research institute

Another 128 months were discovered, orbiting Saturn, bringing the planet to a total of 274. It's more than what's around all other planets in the solar system. However, astronomers face problems as advances in telescope technology allow them to gradually find small planetary objects.

Edward Ashton Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan and his colleagues have found a new moon with a telescope in Canada, France and Hawaii, revealing dozens who have previously avoided astronomers. They took several hours of imagery of Saturn, adjusted them through the sky for the movement of the planets, stacking them on top of each other, revealing objects that were otherwise too thin to be visible.

All new moons are 2 to 4 kilometres in diameter and could have been formed hundreds of millions or billions of years ago by collisions, Ashton said.

“These are tiny little rocks floating in space, so some people may not be doing anything,” Ashton says. “But I think it's important to have a catalog of all the objects in the solar system.”

The dot at the center of this image is one of the moons of Saturn's new “fuzzy blob”

edward ashton et al. (2025)

Despite the wealth of data collected by his team, these most recent months still only appear as “fuzzy blobs,” Ashton says. There are more powerful telescopes that can solve Moon in more detail, Many people have small areas of vision, but that would mean taking more images, he says.

The newly discovered moon is recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and Ashton and his team You now have the right to name it. Ashton, a Canadian, says he approached representatives of Indigenous Canadian people for suggestions, but also pondered the idea of a kind of public naming contest.

Is there more moons there? Scientists have spent decades scanning the area around Saturn with an increasingly powerful telescope in recent years. In 2019, 20 new moons were found, and Ashton and his colleagues already 62 discovered Apart from the 128 that was recently discovered in 2023. Ultimately, further discoveries are likely to require advances in telescope technology, Ashton believes that thousands of moons are easily found in orbit around Saturn, and even discounting the small rocky remains found in the planet's rings.

Mike Alexandersen The Minor Planet Center, which records the planetary bodies of the IAU, says there are likely many moons in the solar system, as telescope improvements allow you to see small objects. He says he has to make a decision about what he doesn't do with the moon.

“I know that the IAU has decided not to prioritize naming anything smaller than a kilometer because of the number of months that are likely to exist. But that's not the same as they don't recognize it as the moon,” says Alexandersen. “Only if the spaceship goes to visit it would they name it.”

He suggests that the cutoff between the moon and the rock particles that form part of the planet's rings is probably between 1 kilometres and 1 meter in diameter. “In the end, it's probably going to be an IAU, not my decision. And it's probably going to be a relatively arbitrary kind of thing,” says Alexandersen.

Elizabeth's Day At Imperial College, London says one day there may even be commercial reasons to have an accurate map of the solar system. “You may want to extract resources from the asteroids and moons in your solar system, so make sure you understand what's important to that,” says Day.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Massive volcanic eruption discovered on the moon’s far side

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Today, the moon is a cold, dead world, but it hasn’t always been that way. Early in its history, the Moon was host to volcanic activity.

Now, the latest results from the first-ever samples returned from the far side of the moon by China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft reveal this volcanic activity. It may have happened more recently More than previously suspected. But what remains unclear is how these eruptions were able to continue for so long.

The moon is tidally locked to the Earth, meaning the same side is always facing us. Throughout human history, the dark ocean on the moon’s near side (known as Mare) has been clearly visible.

However, the far side of the Moon was hidden from our view and remained a mystery until the advent of the Space Age. In 1959, the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 satellite returned the first-ever images of the far side of the Moon, revealing a completely different surface than the familiar near side. There are only a handful of small oceans on the moon. Instead, much of the opposite side is pocked with impact craters.

Why do we know so little about the far side of the moon?

The Moon is dual-faced, and each side has a markedly different appearance. In recent years, experiments such as NASA’s GRAIL satellite have revealed that this dual personality extends underground as well.

“There is a dichotomy of the crust between the near and far sides, and the crust on the far side is much thicker,” he says. Professor Clive Neal a planetary geologist at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.

The cause of this split is one of the biggest unanswered questions about the moon. To get to the bottom of it, researchers first need to investigate what causes the two different appearances in the first place.

In the ’60s and ’70s, the Luna and Apollo missions returned vast amounts of lunar rock, confirming what geologists had long suspected: that the lunar maria was formed primarily from basalt (cooled lava). We were able to confirm that it is made of minerals.

The moon’s oceans were actually ancient volcanic floodplains that formed between 4.3 billion and 3.1 billion years ago. This conclusively proved that there was volcanic activity on the surface.

A photo of the far side of the Moon taken and transmitted to Earth by the Soviet lunar probe Luna 3 in 1959. – Photo credit: Getty

The absence of maria on the moon may suggest that there are no signs of volcanic activity on the far side, but a closer look at the craters on the far side shows that this may not be the case. Over time, the rocky world develops the patina of impact craters from meteorite impacts.

If the planet is volcanically active, lava flooding the surface will fill these craters and erase them from the surface. This means that the more craters there are on a planet’s surface, the longer it has been volcanic.

Using orbital images of the moon’s surface, scientists have been able to count craters on the moon, and it appears that the far side of the moon has actually been carved clean by volcanic activity on roughly the same time scale as seen on the near side. I discovered that it looks like.

So what did the new mission find?

The only way to confirm this theory was to test for volcanic minerals on samples from the backside. Unfortunately, all early lunar exploration aimed at the easiest place to land: the brightly lit equator in front of the moon.

Things changed on June 1, 2024, when China’s Chang’e 6 lander touched down on the far side of an area known as the Antarctic Aitken Impact Basin. This was China’s second venture into the far side, after landing a spacecraft in 2019. Chang’e 6’s main purpose was to bring samples of the far side back to Earth, ultimately revealing how geologically different this region is from the far side. .

Immediately after landing, Chang’e 6 scooped up some of the moon’s soil, known as regolith. They also used a 2-meter (6.5-foot) long drill to collect samples from underground, where moon rocks are somewhat protected from the sun’s radiation.

In all, the mission collected 1,935 g (4.2 pounds) of lunar material, which was packaged into an ascent vehicle and returned to Earth on June 6.

The return capsule of the Chang’e 6 probe will land in Xiziwangban, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, on June 25, 2024. – Photo credit: Getty

The return capsule was immediately taken to a special facility, where it was opened and subjected to preliminary tests, which revealed that the sample contained grains of basalt, proving that there was indeed a volcanic past behind it. It was done.

To learn more about what this past was like, more than 100 basalt fragments were extracted and sent to two independent teams of researchers who published their findings. science and nature November of this year.

They found that the basalt is about 2.8 billion years old, younger than the samples collected by Luna and Apollo.

How volcanic activity became possible is a “mystery”

The new sample matched a similarly young sample taken by China’s previous sample return mission, Chang’e 5.

Neither sample contained a group of metals called KREEP (potassium, rare earth metals, and phosphorus with the element symbol K) that were abundant in the previous samples. There was also a clear shortage of radioactive metals. Also a sample of Chang’e.

“The mystery is that young basalts, less than 3 billion years old, do not contain large amounts of KREEP radioactive elements either in the foreground or in the background,” said one of the few Western scientists allowed to cooperate in this research. Mr. Neil, one of the Analysis at this time.

“This is a mystery, but it matches the young basalt of Chang’e 5, which is 2 billion years old.”

Heat from the decay of radioactive metals is one of the main mechanisms that sustains volcanic activity on our planet, but their apparent disappearance does not seem to have immediately stopped volcanic activity on the Moon. As it turns out, the samples are very similar in many other ways.

“They are similar in bulk composition to previous samples, which adds to the mystery: What was the heat source that produced such magmas?” says Neal.

Getting to the bottom of the mystery will almost certainly require more samples taken from different parts of the moon, as well as a closer look at what’s happening beneath the surface.

“The absence of creep elements in the basalts on the far side suggests that the Moon’s mantle is also bipartite. To understand the nature of the Moon’s interior, we need to use global geophysical networks to You need to explore what’s inside.”

It appears the other side still wants to keep some of its secrets hidden, at least for now.

About our experts

Professor Clive Neil is an expert in civil and environmental engineering and geosciences at the University of Notre Dame in the United States. His research is natural earth science, science and advances in space research.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Researchers examine how tides impact the interiors of planets and moons

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A team of scientists from the University of Arizona, Delft University of Technology, and the California Institute of Technology's Lunar and Planetary Institute has developed a new method to calculate how tides affect the interiors of the solar system's planets and moons. Importantly, they investigated the effects of internal tides on objects that do not have perfectly spherical internal structures.

Europa's surface stands out in this newly reprocessed color view. Image scale is 1.6 km per pixel. North of Europe is on the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Celestial tides refer to the deformations that celestial bodies experience when they interact with other bodies due to gravity.

Consider how Jupiter's powerful gravity pulls on its icy moon Europa.

Because Europa's orbit is not circular, the overwhelming gravitational pressure on Jupiter's moons changes as it moves along Jupiter's orbit.

When Europa is closest to Jupiter, the planet's gravity is most felt.

The energy of this deformation heats Europa's interior, allowing an ocean of liquid water to exist beneath the moon's icy surface.

“The same is true for Saturn's moon Enceladus,” says Dr. Alexander Byrne, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology.

“Enceladus has an ice shell that is expected to have much more aspherical symmetry than Europa.”

The body tides experienced by celestial bodies influence how the world evolves over time and, in cases like Europa and Enceladus, its potential habitability for life as we know it. may give.

“The tidal response of spherically symmetric objects has the same wavelength as the tidal forces. Lateral inhomogeneities generate additional tidal responses with spectra that depend on the spatial pattern of such fluctuations.” the researchers said.

“For Mercury, the Moon, and Io, the amplitude of this signal is as much as 1-10% of the dominant tidal response to long-wavelength shear modulus fluctuations, which exceed about 10% of the mean shear modulus.”

“For Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus, a shell thickness variation of 50% of the average shell thickness could result in an additional signal of about 1% and about 10% for Jupiter's moons and Enceladus, respectively.”

The authors also discussed how their results can help scientists interpret observations made by missions to a variety of different worlds, from Mercury to the moon to the outer planets of our solar system. .

“Future missions such as BepiColombo and JUICE have the potential to measure these signals,” they said.

“Lateral changes in viscosity affect the distribution of tidal heating.”

“This may promote the thermal evolution of tidal bodies and influence the distribution of active areas.”

of findings will appear in Planetary Science Journal.

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Mark Rovira-Navarro others. 2024. A spectral method for calculating the tides of laterally inhomogeneous objects. planet. Science. J 5, 129; doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad381f

This article is a version of a press release provided by NASA.

Source: www.sci.news

Perseverance Watches Phobos, One of Mars’ Moons, Crossing in Front of the Sun

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

NASA’s Perseverance rover will pass in front of the sun on September 30, 2024, the 1,285th Martian day (Sol) since the start of its mission. I captured the silhouette of Phobos inside.

Perseverance captured the silhouette of Phobos passing in front of the Sun on September 30, 2024. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS.

Phobos was discovered in 1877 by the American astronomer Asaph Hall, along with its smaller cousin Deimos.

It orbits approximately 6,000 km (3,700 miles) from the surface of Mars, completing one orbit in just 7 hours and 39 minutes.

Phobos orbits so close to the surface of Mars that the planet’s curvature makes it difficult to see from observers standing at Mars’ polar regions.

Its orbital period is approximately three times the planet’s rotation period, and when viewed from Mars, it rises in the west and sets in the east, an unusual result for a natural satellite.

Phobos measures 26 x 22 x 18 km (16.2 x 13.7 x 11.2 miles) and has a very rugged appearance. There are also impact craters and grooves on the surface.

“Perseverance recently spotted a ‘googly eye’ peering out from space from its perch on the western wall of Jezero Crater on Mars,” NASA scientists said in a statement.

“The pupil of this celestial gaze is Mars’ moon Phobos, and the iris is our sun.”

The event, captured by the Mastcam-Z spacecraft on September 30, occurred as Phobos passed directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring most of the Sun’s disk. .

At the same time that Phobos appeared as a large black disk moving rapidly across the surface of the Sun, its shadow, or foreshadow, moved across the planet’s surface.

“Due to its fast orbit, passages through Phobos typically last only about 30 seconds,” the researchers said.

This isn’t the first time a NASA spacecraft has seen Phobos blocking the sun’s rays.

Perseverance has captured multiple passes of the small moon since landing in Mars’ Jezero Crater in February 2021.

Curiosity shot the video in 2019. Opportunity captured the image in 2004.

“By comparing different images, we can improve our understanding of the moon’s orbit and learn how it is changing,” the scientists said.

“Phobos is moving closer to Mars and is predicted to collide with Mars within about 50 million years.”

Source: www.sci.news

NASA launches Europa Clipper spacecraft towards Jupiter’s icy moons

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Europa Clipper launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 14, 2024 at 12:06 pm EDT, beginning a six-year journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The spacecraft will fly 49 times, approaching as close as 25 kilometers. Searching for the ingredients of life below the surface (16 miles).

Europa Clipper will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 14, 2024 at 12:06 pm EDT. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

european clipper This is the largest spacecraft ever built by NASA for a planetary mission.

Expanding the giant solar array, the spacecraft could span the length of a basketball court (30.5 meters, or 100 feet, end to end).

“We congratulate the European Clipper team as it begins its first journey to the ocean world beyond Earth,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

“NASA is a world leader in exploration and discovery, and the Europa Clipper mission is no exception.”

“By exploring the unknown, Europa Clipper will help us better understand whether there is potential for life not only within our solar system, but also on the billions of moons and planets outside the sun. .”

“We couldn't be more excited about the incredible and unprecedented science that NASA's European Clipper mission will bring for generations to come,” said Nikki Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. states.

“All of NASA's science is interconnected, and Europa Clipper's scientific discoveries will help other missions in Jupiter exploration, including Juno, Galileo, and Voyager, explore the possibility of inhabited planets beyond our home planet. We will build on the legacy we have created as we explore possible worlds.”

“We are very happy to be able to send Europa Clipper to explore a potentially habitable ocean world, thanks to all of our colleagues and partners who have worked so hard to date.” said Dr. Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA's Jet Division. Promotion Institute.

“The Europa Clipper will undoubtedly deliver amazing science. It is always bittersweet to send something we have worked so hard on for so many years on its long journey, but this amazing team We know that spacecraft will expand our knowledge of our solar system and provide inspiration for future exploration.”

“As Europa Clipper embarks on its journey, I will reflect on the countless dedications, innovations, and teamwork that made this moment possible,” said Europa Clipper project manager, also at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Jordan Evans said.

“This launch is more than just the next chapter in solar system exploration. It is a journey into another ocean, driven by our common curiosity and the quest to answer the question 'Are we alone?' A leap forward to uncover the mysteries of the world. ”

The journey to Jupiter will be a long 2.9 billion kilometers (1.8 billion miles), and instead of heading straight there, Europa Clipper will orbit Mars and then Earth, speeding past it.

The spacecraft is scheduled to begin orbiting Jupiter in April 2030 and begin its 49 science-focused flybys of Europa in 2031 while orbiting the gas giant.

This orbit is designed to take full advantage of the science Europa Clipper can perform and minimize exposure to Jupiter's notoriously intense radiation.

Scientists on the mission will be able to “see” how thick Europa's ice shell is and gain a deeper understanding of the vast ocean beneath.

They will examine surface material that may have come up from below, look for fingerprints of organic compounds that form the building blocks of life, and sample gases emitted by the moon for evidence of habitability. I will.

They will analyze the results and look for signs of a water world that could support life beneath the moon's frozen shell.

“It's important for us to picture what that alien ocean is like, the chemistry and biochemistry that might be going on there,” said Europa Clipper team member said Dr. Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Its research centers on searching for the types of salts, ices, and organic materials that make up the main ingredients of a habitable world.

This is where an imager called MISE (Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa) comes into play.

Operating in the infrared, the spacecraft's MISE splits the reflected light into different wavelengths to identify the corresponding atoms and molecules.

The mission will also use an instrument called E-THEMIS (European Thermal Emission Imaging System), which also operates in infrared, to explore potential sites near Europa's surface where plumes could bring deep-sea material closer to the surface. Attempt to identify hotspots.

The task of the EIS (Europa Imaging System) is to take clear, detailed pictures of Europa's surface using both narrow-image and wide-image cameras.

“EIS imagers will provide incredibly high-resolution images to understand how Europa's surface continues to evolve and change,” said Dr. Cable.

NASA's Cassini mission has discovered giant plumes of water vapor spewing from jets near the south pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus.

Europa may also emit a misty column of water drawn from the ocean or from reservoirs within its shell.

The Europa Clipper's instrument, called Europa-UVS (Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph), can explore the plume and study any material that could be ejected into space.

Regardless of whether Europa has a plume or not, the spacecraft will carry two instruments to analyze small amounts of gas and dust particles ejected from the moon's surface by collisions with micrometeorites and high-energy particles. It has been. MASPEX (MAss SPECtrometer for Planetary Exploration/Europa) and SUDA (Surface Dust Analyzer).

These instruments capture small pieces of material emitted from surfaces and turn them into charged particles that reveal their composition.

“The spacecraft will study the gases and grains emitted by Europa by sticking out its tongue, tasting the grains, and inhaling those gases,” Dr. Cable said.

The mission will also explore Europa's external and internal structures in a variety of ways. That's because both structures have far-reaching implications for the moon's habitability.

To gain insight into the thickness of ice shells and the presence of oceans, as well as their depth and salinity, the mission will measure the moon's induced magnetic field with the ECM (European Clipper Magnetometer) and use that data to analyze currents from flowing charged particles. We plan to combine it with the measured values of . Around Europa — Data provided by PIMS (Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding).

In addition, mission scientists will use REASON (European Assessment and Near-Surface Sounding Radar), which monitors up to 18 miles (29 km) away, to detect every detail from the presence of ocean to ice structure and topography. I plan to investigate. several miles) into the shell. itself a potentially habitable environment.

Measuring the changes that Europa's gravity causes in radio signals should help determine the thickness of the ice and the depth of the ocean.

“Non-ice material on the surface can migrate into deep internal pockets of brine within the ice shell,” said Dr. Steve Vance, a member of the European Clipper team and an astrobiologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“Some may be large enough to be considered lakes, or at least ponds.”

“Using the collected data to perform large-scale computer modeling of Europa's internal structure, we may be able to uncover the ocean's composition and estimate its temperature profile.”

“Whatever the situation, the discovery will open a new chapter in the search for extraterrestrial life.”

“The European Clipper is almost certain to raise as many questions as it answers, if not more, in a completely different class than we have been thinking about for the past 25 years.”

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This article is based on a press release provided by NASA.

Source: www.sci.news

European Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moons launched by NASA

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

For decades, Jupiter’s icy moons have been considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to search for extraterrestrial life. Europa, thought to have an underground ocean and a potentially habitable environment, has long been considered an attractive target in our cosmic backyard.

Now humans are ready to take a closer look at Jupiter’s fourth largest moon.

NASA is scheduled to launch a new robotic mission to Jupiter as soon as noon Monday. The probe, named Europa Clipper, is the largest spacecraft the company has ever built for a planetary science mission.

Assuming no further launch delays, Europa Clipper is scheduled to lift off Monday at 12:06 pm ET aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, but NASA was forced to cancel due to Hurricane Milton, which made landfall late Wednesday near Siesta Key along Florida’s west coast. Kennedy Space Center was closed as the storm battered the state, bringing high winds and heavy rain to much of the Florida peninsula.

The delay was a minor setback in a mission that took more than a decade to plan and develop.

“It feels surreal,” said Jordan Evans, mission project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “There were battles at every level, from the early stages of the initial concept of the mission, to getting approval, passing each milestone and overcoming various problems along the way. At this point, the team was ready. It’s incredible to watch.”

Europa Clipper is not embarking on a life-detecting mission. Rather, they will study the composition of the icy moon, as well as its internal structure and geology. This information could help scientists determine whether Europa currently has the right ingredients to support life, or whether they existed at some point.

“We’re looking for a habitable environment,” said Bonnie Blatty, mission deputy project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We believe that liquid water is a necessity for life, and that it exists. Whether through active geology or something else, we need the right chemistry to act like a battery to propel life. It’s energy.”Parallel.”

Blatty said there is strong scientific evidence that a vast ocean lurks beneath the moon’s icy surface. In fact, Europa’s interior ocean is estimated to be twice the volume of all of Earth’s oceans combined, according to NASA.

A mosaic image of Jupiter’s moon Europa acquired by a camera aboard NASA’s Galileo spacecraft on November 25, 1999.
NASA

Europa Clipper is scheduled to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030 after a six-year, 1.8 billion mile journey.

The 49 flybys of the moon over four years will provide researchers with new insights.

“We’ll definitely be able to tell how thick the ice crust is and whether there are small ponds there,” Blatty said. “As for the ocean, I think we will someday find out how deep it is.”

To make these observations, the spacecraft will fly through a harsh radiation environment created by Jupiter’s massive magnetic field, which NASA says is about 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s.

“If we were to go into orbit around Europe and do research, even the most radiation-resistant electronic equipment would likely be destroyed by radiation within a month or two,” Evans said. said.

Instead, mission managers developed a way for the probe to orbit Jupiter in harmony with the icy moon. This is a kind of cosmic duet that could help protect equipment from prolonged exposure to harsh radiation.

“So every six times Europa orbits Jupiter, or every 21 days, we’ll be at a precise position in space, right next to Europa,” Evans said. “And because each flyby will be different, we will be able to cover almost the entire world’s moon.”

However, the team will need to exercise patience. Before reaching Jupiter, the spacecraft will first pass Mars and then circle Earth again, using the gravity of both planets to blast it deep into space.

Europa was discovered in 1610 by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. This icy object is the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 95 known moons.

Several space probes have previously observed Europa, including NASA’s Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Galileo missions, but this will be NASA’s first dedicated mission to the Moon, and will be the first mission for NASA to go beyond Earth. This will be my first time researching the ocean world.

This milestone has been a long time coming for Blatty, who wrote a paper on Europa as a graduate student at Cornell University in the 1980s.

“I’ve actually only been in this role for two and a half years. I didn’t start it,” she said. “But I’m so happy to be back to something so near and dear to my heart. It’s truly a dream.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Researchers develop 3D radiation map of Jupiter’s moons

Posted on August 28, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Using data collected by the Advanced Stellar Compass (ASC) and Stellar Reference Unit (SRU) on NASA’s Juno spacecraft, scientists have created the first complete 3D radiation map of the Jupiter system. The map characterizes the intensity of high-energy particles near the orbit of the icy moon Europa and shows how the radiation environment is shaped by small moons orbiting close to Jupiter’s rings.

This diagram shows a model of radiation intensity at different points on the Juno spacecraft’s orbit around Jupiter. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / DTU.

“With Juno, we’ve been trying to invent new ways to use sensors to learn about nature, and we’ve been using many of our science instruments in ways that were not originally intended,” said Juno principal investigator Dr. Scott Bolton, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute.

“This is the first detailed radiation map of this high-energy region and marks a major step forward in understanding how Jupiter’s radiation environment works.”

“It’s significant that we’ve been able to map this area in detail for the first time, because we don’t have instruments designed to look for radiation.”

“This map will help plan observations for future missions to the Jovian system.”

Juno’s ASC instrument, consisting of four star cameras mounted on the spacecraft’s magnetometer boom, takes images of the stars to determine the spacecraft’s orientation in space.

But the instrument is also a valuable detector for detecting the flow of high-energy particles within Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

The cameras record “hard radiation” – ionizing radiation that affects the spacecraft with enough energy to penetrate the ASC’s shielding.

“The ASC takes an image of the star every quarter of a second,” said Juno scientist Dr. John Leif Jorgensen, a researcher at the Technical University of Denmark.

“The highly energetic electrons that penetrate the shield leave distinctive signatures in our images, like firefly trails.”

“The device is programmed to count the number of fireflies, allowing us to accurately calculate the amount of radiation.”

Juno’s orbit is constantly changing, so the spacecraft has traversed nearly every region of space near Jupiter.

The ASC data suggests that there is more very high-energy radiation, relative to low-energy radiation, near Europa’s orbit than previously thought.

The data also confirm that there are more energetic electrons on the side of Europa facing in the direction of its orbital motion than on the rear side of Europa.

This is because most of the electrons in Jupiter’s magnetosphere pass Europa from behind due to the planet’s rotation, but the very energetic electrons flow backwards, like a fish swimming upstream, and slam into the front of Europa.

The Jupiter radiation data is not the ASC’s first scientific contribution to the mission: even before it arrived at Jupiter, ASC data was used to measure interstellar dust bombarding Juno.

Using the same dust-detection techniques, the imager also discovered a previously undiscovered comet, identifying tiny pieces of the spacecraft ejected by fine dust particles that collided with Juno at high speed.

Like Juno’s ASC, the SRU will act as a radiation detector and low-light imaging instrument.

Data from both instruments show that, like Europa, small shepherd moons that orbit inside or near the edges of Jupiter’s rings and help maintain their shape also appear to interact with the planet’s radiation environment.

If the spacecraft flies over magnetic field lines that connect to ring moons or dense dust, the radiation dose to both the ASC and SRU drops sharply.

The SRU is also collecting rare low-light images of the rings from Juno’s unique vantage point.

“Many mysteries remain about how Jupiter’s rings formed, and very few images have been collected by previous spacecraft,” said SRU principal investigator Dr. Heidi Becker, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“If you’re lucky, you might even be able to capture a little shepherd moon in your photo.”

“These images allow us to get a better idea of where the ring moons are currently located and to see the distribution of dust relative to the distance from Jupiter.”

of Survey results Will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Source: www.sci.news

Lunar samples shed light on the formation of the Moon’s largest crater

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Lunar samples collected by NASA's Apollo missions continue to enable new discoveries.

NASA/ESA

The Moon's largest crater is thought to have formed 4.338 billion years ago when a huge rock struck the lunar surface, leaving behind a swirling pool of magma, suggesting that Earth was experiencing extreme cosmic upheaval at the same time.

Chemical analysis of tiny zircon crystals found in lunar samples revealed that many of them solidified from magma about 4.3 billion years ago, but without measuring whether they all formed at precisely the same time, there was no way to know for sure whether many small impacts or one giant one melted the lunar crust into magma.

Melanie Balboni Balboni and her colleagues at Arizona State University solved this problem by measuring with extreme precision the ages of 10 zircon crystals that were brought back to Earth as part of NASA's Apollo missions. “To do this kind of dating, you have to melt the zircon,” Balboni says. “The lunar material is so precious, and there are so few reliable labs in the world that can do that, so no one has dared to do it. When I first did it, I was so scared.”

The researchers found that the crystals all formed at the same time, 4.338 billion years ago, which indicates that they likely formed in one giant impact. The same impact that created these crystals probably also formed the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest crater on the Moon, unless that impact crater was subsequently obscured by shifting sand or other impactors, Balboni says.

Not only is this a pivotal event in the history of the Moon, but it also tells us something about the space environment on Earth at that time. “The Moon is a very small object compared to Earth, so it was very likely that something very big struck Earth at that time,” Balboni said. “That big rock could have left behind cosmic gifts, like water, that might have helped the birth of life.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Astronomers report that the moons orbiting asteroid Dinkinesh are in a contact binary configuration

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Dinkinesh is a small asteroid orbiting the Sun near the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently revealed that this asteroid, with an effective diameter of just 720 meters, is unexpectedly complex. The asteroid has a pronounced valley covered by an equatorial ridge and is currently orbited by a contact binary moon, named Seram, which consists of two nearly equal lobes with diameters of 210 meters and 230 meters. The moon orbits at a distance of 3.1 kilometers from Dinkinesh, has an orbital period of about 52.7 hours, and is tidally locked.

Stereo image pair (a-c) taken by the L’LORRI instrument aboard NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on November 1, 2023, shows asteroid Dinkinesh. Yellow and rose dots indicate valley and ridge features, respectively. These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. Image (d) shows a side-on view of Dinkinesh and its moon Ceram, taken a few minutes after closest approach. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab.

“We want to understand the strength of small bodies in the solar system because it’s important to understanding how planets like Earth got here,” said Dr. Hal Levison, a research scientist at Southwest Research Institute and Lucy principal investigator.

“Essentially, planets formed when a bunch of tiny objects orbiting the sun, like asteroids, collided with each other.”

“How objects behave when they collide – whether they break or stick together – has a lot to do with the object’s strength and internal structure.”

The researchers believe that how Dinkinesh responded to stress may reveal something about its inner workings.

As it rotated in sunlight for millions of years, tiny forces from thermal radiation radiating from the asteroid’s warm surface created tiny torques that caused Dinkinesh to spin gradually faster, and the accumulated centrifugal forces caused parts of the asteroid to become more elongated.

This event likely sent debris into close orbit, providing the raw material for the formation of the ridge and moons.

If Dinkinesh had been a weaker, more mobile mass of sand, its particles would have gradually migrated toward the equator and then blasted off into orbit as it rotated faster.

But the images suggest that, like rock, the Dinkinesh asteroid was stronger than a fluid and held together longer, until it eventually disintegrated under pressure and broke into larger pieces. Still, the force needed to break up a small asteroid like Dinkinesh is tiny compared to most rocks on Earth.

“This valley suggests a sudden collapse, more like an earthquake, where stress builds up gradually and then is suddenly released, rather than the slow process that creates sand dunes,” said Dr. Keith Noll, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and a Lucy scientist.

“These features show that Dinkinesh has some strength, and we can do a bit of historical reconstruction to see how this asteroid evolved,” Dr Levison said.

“During that collapse, the rocks broke apart and things separated, forming a disk of material, some of which rained down to the surface and formed the ridge.”

“We think that some of the material in the disk formed the moon Ceram, which is actually a structure where two celestial bodies are in contact with each other, known as a contact binary. The details of how this unusual moon formed remain a mystery.”

of Investigation result Published in the journal Nature.

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H.F. Levison others2024. Contact binary moon of asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh. Nature 629, 1015-1020; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0

Source: www.sci.news

Astrophysicist reveals the genesis of one of the Milky Way’s biggest moons

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Satellite Galaxy Crater II The Milky Way's Crater 2 (or Crater 2) is located in the constellation Crater, about 380,000 light-years from Earth. This galaxy is very cold, very diffuse, and has a low surface brightness. According to a new study, Crater 2 exists thanks to self-interacting dark matter.

Location of Crater II and other Milky Way moons at distances between 100,000 and 400,000 parsecs from the Sun. Image courtesy of Torrealba others., doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw733.

” discovery “Since 2016, there have been numerous attempts to recreate the anomalous properties of Crater II, but these have proven extremely difficult,” said Haibo Yu, a professor at the University of California, Riverside.

Dark matter makes up 85% of the matter in the universe, and under the influence of gravity it can form spherical structures called dark matter halos.

Invisible halos permeate and surround galaxies like Crater II, and the fact that Crater II is so cold indicates that its halo is low density.

“Crater II developed within the Milky Way's tidal field and experienced tidal interactions with its host galaxy, similar to how Earth's oceans experience tidal forces due to the Moon's gravity,” Professor Yu said.

“In theory, tidal interactions can reduce the density of dark matter haloes.”

However, recent measurements of Crater II's orbit around the Milky Way suggest that if dark matter is made of cold, collisionless particles, as predicted by the prevailing cold dark matter theory (CDM), the strength of the tidal interactions is too weak to reduce the dark matter density in the satellite galaxy enough to match the measurements.

“Another mystery is why Crater II is so large when, as the satellite galaxy evolves in the Milky Way's tidal field, tidal interactions should reduce its size,” said Professor Yu.

Professor Yu and his colleagues put forward a different theory to explain the properties and origin of Crater II.

This is called self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) and can plausibly explain the diverse distribution of dark matter.

The theory proposes that dark matter particles self-interact through the dark force and collide with each other forcefully near the center of the galaxy.

“Our study shows that SIDM can explain the anomalous properties of Crater II,” said Professor Yu.

“The key mechanism is that dark matter self-interaction thermalizes Crater II's halo and creates a shallow dense core, i.e. the dark matter density flattens out at a small radius.”

“In contrast, in a CDM halo, the density would increase rapidly towards the center of the galaxy.”

“In SIDM, the strength of the relatively weak tidal interaction, consistent with what is expected from measurements of Crater II's orbit, is sufficient to reduce the dark matter density in Crater II, consistent with observations.”

“Importantly, the size of galaxies is also increasing within the SIDM halo, which could explain the large size of Crater II.”

“Dark matter particles are only more loosely bound in the cored SIDM halo than in the pointed CDM halo.”

“Our study shows that SIDM is a better option than CDM for explaining the origin of Crater II.”

of study Published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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Zhang Xingyu others2024. Interpreting self-interacting dark matter in Crater II. Apu JL 968, L13; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad50cd

Source: www.sci.news

What is the maximum number of satellites and moons that could fit in Earth’s orbit?

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Dead Planets Society is a podcast that takes some crazy ideas for how to tinker with the universe and tests their effects against the laws of physics, from snapping the moon in half to causing doomsday events with gravitational waves. apple, Spotify or our Podcast Page.

One moon isn’t enough. While Earth only has one moon, other planets have many. Jupiter has 95 moons, putting its shining cosmic partner to shame with only one. In this episode of Dead Planets Society, we try to light up the night sky with as many moons as possible.

But it’s not as simple as just throwing a bunch of rocks into orbit. So in this episode, hosts Leah Crain and Chelsea White Shawn Raymond We asked a researcher from the University of Bordeaux in France for help with the details, who suggests we could build a ring of 10 moons, each of which would orbit Earth in different phases, causing strange little eclipses as they orbited the planet.

And it’s not just the moon. In 2018, Raymond and Juna Kollmeyer Researchers at the Carnegie Observatories in California have found that it’s theoretically possible for Earth’s moon to have its own orbital satellite, known as a lunar lunar. Such a satellite might not be stable due to the presence of a gravitational anomaly on the moon, so our host has been adding a giant hand blender to his space tool belt to try and smooth things over. If things get sorted, we could have a lunar lunar, or even a lunar lunar, lighting up the night sky.

The moon is bright because it reflects sunlight, and these new moons could be the perfect place to line up giant solar panels, unobstructed by the atmosphere and clouds that plague Earth’s surface. And because the moon is so bright, it would probably be impossible to see the stars from Earth’s surface, but in relatively small detail.

An even bigger problem is that the more complex and crowded the orbit, the greater the risk of these moons colliding with each other, which could give Earth beautiful rings like Saturn, but could also destroy life on Earth.

Dead Planets Society is a fun and subversive podcast about space. New ScientistIn each episode, hosts Leah Crain and Chelsea White explore what would happen if we were given cosmic powers to rearrange the universe. They speak to astronomers, cosmologists and geologists to find out what would happen if we ripped a hole in a planet, unified the asteroid belt or destroyed the sun. Dead Planets Society Season 2 continues with apple, Spotifyor our Podcast Page.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

NILS discovers negative ions present on the moon’s surface

Posted on June 7, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

of Negative Ion Laser Spectroscopy (NILS) Chinese Chang'e 6 Probe Negative ions have been detected on the surface of the moon. These ions are produced on the surface of the moon due to interactions with the solar wind.

The South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon is one of the largest and oldest impact features in the Solar System. It's easy to see in the elevation data: the low central area is dark blue and purple. The mountains on its edges, remnants of the outer ring, are red and yellow. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/University of Arizona.

The solar wind is a constant stream of radiation and particles emanating from the Sun. The Earth's magnetic field acts as a shield.

In contrast, the Moon has no magnetic field and a very thin atmosphere called the exosphere.

When the solar wind hits the Moon, it reacts with the surface, sending up secondary particles.

These particles may be positively or negatively charged, or may not be charged at all.

Positively charged particles have been measured from orbit before, but measuring negatively charged particles has been difficult.

Negative ions are short-lived and cannot reach orbit, which is why ESA scientists had to operate their instruments closer to the lunar surface.

“This is ESA's first operation on the lunar surface, a world first for science and our first lunar collaboration with China,” said Neil Melville, ESA's technical lead for the NILS experiment.

“We collected data in quantity and quality far beyond our expectations.”

“These observations on the Moon will help us to better understand the surface environment and serve as a precursor to exploring the distribution of negative ions on other atmosphere-less bodies in the Solar System, from planets to asteroids and other moons,” said NILS principal investigator Dr Martin Wieser.

Chang'e-6 is scheduled to successfully land in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on June 1, 2024.

NILS began collecting science data 280 minutes after landing. The first data collection period lasted 23 minutes, after which the instruments experienced a voltage drop. Several further data collection periods followed, during which communications were interrupted and restarted.

“The equipment was getting hot, so it was alternating between short periods of running at full power and longer periods of cooling down,” Melville said.

“The fact that we managed to stay within the thermal design limits and achieve a successful recovery in extremely hot conditions is testament to the quality of the research at the Swedish Institute of Astrophysics.”

Source: www.sci.news

Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, has been a hotbed of volcanic activity for billions of years.

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Io, Jupiter’s innermost moon, is the most volcanically active object in the solar system.

Joshimer Binas/Alamy Stock Photo

Jupiter’s moon Io has been continually modified by volcanic eruptions over billions of years, probably since it first formed.

Io is the most volcanically active object in the solar system, with many volcanoes spewing plumes of sulfurous material that can be seen from Earth. Astronomers now know this is caused by so-called tidal heating, in which the gravity of Jupiter and its nearby moons deforms Io, but they wonder if it’s always been this way or if there was a more benign past. It was unclear whether it was there or not.

now, Catherine de Clear Caltech researchers have discovered that Io has probably been spewing lava for almost the entirety of its history. They did this by measuring the ratio of her two isotopes of sulfur in the atmosphere.

The most common stable form of sulfur contains 16 protons and 16 neutrons in each atom, but a heavier stable form called sulfur-34 has two extra neutrons. On Io, volcanoes continually spew both isotopes into the atmosphere and onto the ground. The top layer of the atmosphere, rich in lighter sulfur atoms, is lost to space as the moon moves around Jupiter, changing the ratio of these isotopes.

De Kleer and colleagues used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a series of radio telescopes in Chile, to measure the proportions of Io’s atmosphere. Then, by modeling how much sulfur Io loses each year, the researchers were able to see at what point Io’s sulfur ratios are similar to the rest of the solar system. Although it is not possible to say exactly how long the volcano has been active, it appears that it has been erupting for between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years.

Because Io’s volcanic activity is due to tidal heating by Jupiter and other moons such as Europa and Ganymede, the results can also be used to infer the configuration of the Jupiter system billions of years ago. “The length of Io’s volcanic activity is a direct reflection of how long this orbital structure has existed,” de Clare says.

If Io has been consistently volcanically active for billions of years, this also means that its deep geological formations have been recycled many times, they say. Lionel Wilson At Lancaster University, UK.

Sampling the ejected material will provide a rare opportunity to learn about the chemical composition of Io’s deeper layers, such as the mantle beneath its outer shell. “If these volcanoes have continued to erupt essentially throughout the history of the solar system, even if we look at the composition of what’s erupting and find that it’s actually a snapshot of Io’s entire mantle, It’s safe,” Wilson said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Europa Clipper: NASA’s Mission to Jupiter’s Moons Explores Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Artist’s impression of the European Clipper near its namesake moon

NASA

Instruments aboard a NASA spacecraft scheduled to launch to Europe later this year could directly detect cellular material ejected from Jupiter’s icy moons, increasing the chances of finding life.

Europa is of scientific interest because researchers believe there is a vast saltwater ocean beneath its thick icy shell. It is also surrounded by an orbiting blanket of ice grains and dust, believed to be the remains of material kicked up after the meteorite struck.

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft was launched in October and is scheduled to arrive at its destination in 2030, flying close to the moon but not landing on it. Ten experiments will be carried out aimed at studying Europa’s internal structure, including its ocean chemistry and potential habitability for extraterrestrial life.

One of these is the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA), a type of instrument known as a mass spectrometer. The mission will collect material ejected from the moon and reveal its chemical composition, including potential organic molecules and salts.

SUDA was not designed to look for signs of life in Europe, but now Frank Postberg and his colleagues at Germany’s Freie Universität Berlin, who are working on the device, have shown that it can detect fragments of cellular material, potentially providing evidence of modern life.

“If life on Europa follows the same principle of having membranes and DNA made from amino acids… [those chemicals] “It will be the deciding blow of my life,” he says.

“This is an interesting result because these ice grains hit the instruments in space at speeds of 4 to 6 kilometers per second,” say team members. Fabian Krenner at the University of Washington. “We showed that we can still identify cellular material.”

These extreme velocities cause particles to collide with SUDA with high kinetic energy, breaking large molecular structures into smaller component parts for analysis. To simulate this kinetic energy, the team shot water droplets with a laser. I put the following sample into water. Sphingopyxis alascensisa bacterium known to survive in frigid marine environments, making it a potential alternative to life on Europa.

When the laser hits the droplet, it breaks up into tiny droplets that hit the SUDA detector. The researchers discovered that they could distinguish between fragmented cellular material, including fatty acids and amino acids, which are abundant in cell membranes.

“We have now simulated the presence of cells inside a single ice grain without any pretreatment, which may be a valid case for what we see in Europe,” Klenner said. To tell. The next step, he says, is to repeat the experiment using different types of cell cultures.

Murti Gudipati He works on SUDA at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., but is not involved in the research. The results should reflect what could happen to the spacecraft, he said. Watch while on duty.

But the ability to clearly distinguish cellular material from other organic molecules and salts depends on the specific composition of the ice grains released from Europa, he says. If SUDA detects many other complex organic molecules and salts mixed in with the ice grains, it may be difficult for researchers to reliably detect cellular material, Gudipati says.

the current, NASA says When asked, “Europa Clipper is not a life-detecting mission. Its primary science goal is to determine whether there is a place beneath Europa’s surface where life could exist.” new scientist The agency was unable to respond prior to publication about whether the new research changes the mission’s goals.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

New Moons Found Around Uranus and Neptune by Astronomers

Posted on February 27, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The three newly discovered moons (S/2023 U1, S/2002 N5, and S/2021 N1) are the faintest ever discovered around Uranus and Neptune using ground-based telescopes.

Discovery image of Uranus’ moon S/2023 U1 using the Magellan Telescope on November 4, 2023. Image credit: Scott Sheppard.

The new Uranian moon, tentatively named S/2023 U1, was first discovered by astronomers at the Carnegie Institution for Science on November 4, 2023. Scott Sheppard using the Magellan Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory.

At just 8 km (5 miles), it is probably the smallest of Uranus’ moons. It takes 680 days to circumnavigate the ice giant.

S/2023 U1 will eventually be named after a character from a Shakespeare play, following Uranus’ outer moon naming conventions.

This discovery brings the total number of moons on this giant icy planet to 28.

Dr. Sheppard also used the Magellan telescope to discover S/2002 N5, the brighter of two newly discovered Neptune moons.

The moon’s diameter is about 23 km (14.3 miles), and it takes almost nine years to circumnavigate the ice giant.

The dimmer moons of Neptune were discovered by Dr. Sheppard and his colleagues using the Subaru telescope.

The star, named S/2021 N1, is about 14 km (8.7 miles) in diameter and has an orbital period of almost 27 years.

S/2002 N5 and S/2021 N1 were both first seen in September 2021.

Both have enduring names based on the 50 Nereid sea goddesses from Greek mythology.

“The orbit around Neptune of S/2002 N5 is determined using observations from 2021, 2022, and 2023, indicating that it was discovered near Neptune in 2003, but is still orbiting the planet. “We were able to trace it back to an object that was lost before it was confirmed,” Sheppard said.

S/2023 U1, S/2002 N5, and S/2021 N1 have far-flung, eccentric, and inclined orbits that occurred when Uranus and Neptune were formed from rings of dust and debris surrounding them, or it suggests that they were captured by the gravity of these planets shortly after our sun is in its infancy.

All giant planets in our solar system, regardless of their size or formation process, have a similar composition of outer moons.

“Even Uranus, which is tilted sideways, has a moon population similar to other giant planets orbiting the sun,” Dr. Sheppard said.

“And Neptune, which likely captured the distant Kuiper Belt object Triton, an event that could disrupt its lunar system, has an outer moon that looks similar to its neighbors. “

This new moon also indicates the existence of a dynamic orbital group of outer moons around Uranus and Neptune, similar to those seen around Jupiter and Saturn.

At Uranus, S/2023 U1 has an orbit similar to Caliban and Stefano.

At Neptune, S/2021 N1 has an orbit similar to Psamate and Neso, and S/2002 N5 has an orbit similar to Thao and Laomedeia.

These groupings suggest that the once larger parent moon was shattered, perhaps by a past collision with a comet or asteroid, leaving shattered debris in an orbit similar to the original larger moon. There is.

Many small lunar fragments are likely present in these groups, but they are generally too small to be efficiently observed with current technology.

These groupings of moons indicate that the early solar system was a very chaotic place, with constant movement and collisions between different objects.

Source: www.sci.news

Lunar lander leans to the side on the moon’s surface but remains operational

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The lunar lander, known as Odysseus, is in good condition but resting on its side a day after making history as the first civilian spacecraft to touch down on the moon’s surface and the first U.S. lunar landing since 1972, a company official confirmed on Friday.

The landing craft caught one of its six landing legs on a rock near the end of its final descent, causing it to tip over on its side, according to a data analysis by aeronautical engineers at Houston-based Intuitive Machines.

Despite the unexpected landing, Odysseus is believed to be stable and near its planned landing site near a crater called Malapart A in the moon’s south polar region, said Stephen Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines.

“We are in contact with the lander and are actively sending commands to it in order to capture the first images of the lunar surface from the landing site,” Altemus added.

An update on the mission’s status posted on the company’s website early Friday confirmed that Odysseus was still operational.

Although initial reports indicated that the lander had landed upright, company officials clarified that it had actually landed on its side due to telemetry errors, but most of the payloads onboard were still functional, allowing for communication.

While there are some challenges, such as certain antennas pointing towards the surface and solar panels facing in the wrong direction, the spacecraft’s battery is fully charged and the mission director remains optimistic about fulfilling all payload requirements.

Odysseus utilized liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellants and performed well during its flight to the moon, making it the first of its kind in space exploration.

After overcoming navigation system issues during the final approach and descent to the moon, engineers successfully landed the spacecraft, reestablished communication, and are now monitoring its operation as it begins its mission on the lunar surface.

Following the news of the lander tipping over, Intuitive Machines’ stock experienced a 30% decline in extended trading on Friday, offsetting gains made earlier in the day.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Study suggests Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons, could be responsible for forming Earth’s oceans beneath its icy shell

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

From a detailed analysis of Mimas’s orbital motion based on data from NASA’s Cassini mission, planetary researchers from the Sorbonne, the University of Nantes, Queen Mary University of London, Franche-Comte University, and Jinan University have discovered that the heavily cratered They showed that some ice shells hide recently formed ice shells. (less than 2-3 million years ago) global ocean 20-30 km deep.

The surface of Mimas, like the surfaces of other major Saturn moons that do not have atmospheres, is not pure ice but contains some black impurities. Relatively dark markings appear along the lower part of the walls of the 130km-wide Herschel Crater (the crater's central peak is about the same height as Mount Everest); the impact may have all but destroyed the Moon. there is). some small craters. Scientists interpret the darkening as evidence that the impurities have gradually become concentrated as icy material evaporates in areas where they are slowly sliding down the crater walls. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

There is growing evidence that some moons may have oceans beneath their surfaces, but such watery worlds are difficult to detect.

Mimas — Saturn's innermost and smallest (radius = 198.2 km, or 123 miles) regular moon — is an unlikely candidate due to the different nature of its surface compared to other icy moons such as Enceladus .

This theory has been challenged by Sorbonne University researcher Valerie Rainey and others who are evaluating Cassini's observations of small satellites.

Previous research suggests two possibilities inside Mimas. It is either an elongated rocky core or a global ocean.

A new study reveals that the small moon's rotational motion and orbit change due to internal influences.

For the solid-state model to apply, the rock core must be elongated and approximately pancake-shaped, which is inconsistent with observations.

Rather, measurements of Mimas' position suggest that the evolution of its orbit is better explained as influenced by an internal ocean.

The researchers calculate that the ocean lies beneath an ice shell about 20 to 30 kilometers deep.

Their simulations suggest that it appeared between 25 and 2 million years ago.

Therefore, signs of such an underground ocean would not have had time to leave traces on the surface.

This result suggests that recent processes on Mimas may have been common during the early stages of the formation of other ice worlds.

“Mimas was a small moon with a cratered surface and no sign of an ocean hidden beneath,” said co-author Nick Cooper, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London. the doctor said.

“With this discovery, Mimas joins an exclusive club of moons with inland oceans, including Enceladus and Europa, but with a unique difference: its oceans are surprisingly young.”

of study Published in today's magazine Nature.

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V. Rainey other. 2024. A recently formed ocean within Saturn's moon Mimas. Nature 626, 280-282; doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06975-9

Source: www.sci.news

Europa Clipper Set to Launch to Jupiter in 2024 for Exploration of Icy Moons

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/Gregory M. M. Weigand

NASA’s European Clipper mission will launch in October 2024 and head to Jupiter’s moon Europa, where it will search for signs that the icy moon may be suitable for life.

The spacecraft will not be orbiting Europa when it arrives in 2030, but will instead orbit Jupiter in a way that will allow it to repeatedly pass the moon at a distance of nearly 25 kilometers from the planet’s surface.

“We’re going to get a really comprehensive assessment of what Europa is like,” he says. jennifer scully at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Of the moon’s many mysteries, perhaps the most important are the structure of its internal oceans and whether it is habitable. The Clipper won’t be able to search for life itself, but it will set the stage for possible future missions.

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space exploration/
2024 News Preview

Source: www.newscientist.com

JWST Captures Spectacular Image of Uranus Revealing 13 Rings and 9 Moons

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Igor Mitreski

Uranus showing all its rings and 9 of the planet’s 27 moons

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

This amazing shot of Uranus taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) gives us the most complete view of Uranus yet, revealing its rings and turbulent atmosphere in stunning detail .

In April, JWST used infrared sensors to image Uranus, revealing more of the ice giant’s rock and dust rings, which have only been directly imaged twice before, by the Voyager 2 spacecraft and by Earth’s Keck Observatory. Now it can be observed clearly. Eleven of Uranus’s 13 known rings were visible in this image, but the last two were too dark to see.

JWST has now followed up on these observations using a wider field of view and more wavelengths of infrared light, revealing the rings in even more detail and showing us the elusive final two rings.

The diagram above also shows nine of Uranus’ 27 moons. These are all tilted away from the Sun at her 98 degree angle, the same as the planet itself. Another new image from JWST below shows five more moons (Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, and Titania) shining like blue stars, bringing the total shown to 14.

This JWST photo of Uranus shows five more moons, shining like blue stars around the planet. They are (clockwise from top) Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, and Titania.

STScI Copyright: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

The planet’s tilt causes long stretches of sunlight and darkness on different sides of Uranus, with each season lasting 21 Earth years and producing polar caps and atmospheric storms. Both can be seen more clearly in this picture. The storm lies just below the southern edge of the broad white polar cap, appearing as a white wisp against a blue background.

Although it takes Uranus 84 years to orbit the Sun, it only takes 17 hours to complete its rotation, allowing its atmosphere and moons to travel faster than standard telescopic exposures. Astronomers created the image above by combining long and short exposure times with JWST to smooth out the changing features.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

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All of the latest tech and science news from all over the world.

Tag Archives: moons

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NILS discovers negative ions present on the moon’s surface

Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, has been a hotbed of volcanic activity for billions of years.

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New Moons Found Around Uranus and Neptune by Astronomers

Lunar lander leans to the side on the moon’s surface but remains operational

Study suggests Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons, could be responsible for forming Earth’s oceans beneath its icy shell

Europa Clipper Set to Launch to Jupiter in 2024 for Exploration of Icy Moons

JWST Captures Spectacular Image of Uranus Revealing 13 Rings and 9 Moons