Last month's lunar eclipse not only treated skygazers to a ruddy view of the Moon – it revealed that Earth's atmosphere contains little light-blocking volcanic dust.

Some researchers say the low volcanic dust levels in the atmosphere over the last dozen years could be contributing to global warming, but others dispute the claim. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Scientists analysing data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft have confirmed the presence of heavy negative ions in the upper regions of Titan’s atmosphere. These particles may act as organic building blocks for even more complicated molecules and their discovery was completely unexpected because of the chemical composition of the atmosphere (which lacks oxygen and mainly consists of nitrogen... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Newfound glowing spots on Jupiter seem unexpectedly to come from electron beams whipping around the giant planet's volcanic moon Io. Io is the most volcanic body in the solar system, with its entire surface likely made up of lava from the moon's hundreds of volcanoes. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Jupiter's atmosphere froths with violent winds and mega-storms as large as the entire Earth, but a recent spacecraft flyby captured the planet in an "unusually calm period," astronomers said. Calm on Jupiter, however, still makes terrestrial hurricanes look like breezes. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Scientists have solved a 40-year-old puzzle by identifying the origin of the intense radio waves in the Earth's upper atmosphere that control the dynamics of the Van Allen radiation belts — belts consisting of high-energy electrons that can damage satellites and spacecraft and pose a risk to astronauts performing activities outside their spacecraft. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Thursday, May 31 brings us the second of two full Moons for North Americans this month. Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full Moons occur within a calendar month, that the second full Moon is called the "Blue Moon." picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Two decades of scrutinizing Saturn are finally paying off, as scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 years. picked by AutumnLotus 3 months ago

Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active place known, and researchers are studying how gases from the moon escape and populate the space surrounding Jupiter. Io is providing insight into how the influence of Jupiter's gravity can heat the moon even though it's located far from the Sun. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Ancient gravitational interactions with Venus and Jupiter could help explain some quirks about our moon's orbit. Scientists think Earth's only natural satellite was born when a rogue Mars-sized object struck a young and still molten Earth. The collision created a disk of debris around Earth that eventually coalesced to form our moon about 4.5 billion years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Watching the stars set from the surface of the Earth may be a romantic pastime but when a spacecraft does it from orbit, it can reveal hidden details about a planet’s atmosphere. It works by watching stars from space, while they drop behind the atmosphere of a planet under investigation, before disappearing from view below the planet’s horizon. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Saturn's moon Iapetus has virtually no gray. Rather, its features are all stark black and white. The appearance has long puzzled astronomers. New detailed images suggest sunlight is melting ice on one side of Iapetus, leaving the moon's dark surface exposed, while the opposite half retains its reflective ice-mixed shell. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Taking a page from Nature herself, a team of researchers developed a method to enhance removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and place it in the Earth's oceans for storage. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

A team of scientists has detected the lowest frequency radar echo off the moon ever picked up by Earth-based receivers. In the lunar echo experiment, high power transmitter, located near Gakona, Alaska, launched high power radio waves toward the moon. The reflected signal, weakened because of the long distance to the moon and back, was detected by receiving antennas in New Mexico. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Geologists have uncovered evidence of when Earth may have first supported an oxygen-rich atmosphere similar to the one we breathe today. The study suggests that upheavals in the earth’s crust initiated a kind of reverse-greenhouse effect 500 million years ago that cooled the world’s oceans, spawned giant plankton blooms, and sent a burst of oxygen into the atmosphere. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Jupiter’s moon Europa is just as far away as ever, but new research is bringing scientists closer to being able to explore its tantalizing ice-covered ocean and determine its potential for harboring life. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

An enormous plume of dust and water spurts violently into space from the south pole of Enceladus, Saturn's sixth-largest moon. This raging eruption has intrigued scientists ever since the Cassini spacecraft provided dramatic images of the phenomenon. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Saturn's distinctive moon Iapetus (eye-APP-eh-tuss) is cryogenically frozen in the equivalent of its teenage years. The moon has retained the youthful figure and bulging waistline it sported more than three billion years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The Cassini spacecraft will perform its closest flyby ever of Saturn's ice-spewing moon Enceladus early next year, moving directly into its icy polar geyser for a deep-space shower. picked by ogri2003 1 year ago

The plains of solidified lava that give the Moon its quirky human-like face as seen from Earth were created more than four billion years ago. The evidence comes from an unearthly silvery-grey stone that was blasted off from the face of the Moon, perhaps by an impacting asteroid, and was then captured by Earth's gravity, prompting it to fall to ground in Botswana. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

The moon stays inside Earth’s ‘magnetotail’ for six days every month — during full moon. This can have consequences ranging from lunar ‘dust storms’ to strong electrostatic discharges. picked by Bornbad 4 months ago