FIRST DIRECT EVIDENCE OF LIGHTNING ON MARS DETECTED

Dateline:  July 1, 2009     For the first time, direct evidence of lightning has been detected on Mars, say University of Michigan researchers who found signs of electrical discharges during dust storms on the Red Planet. Illustration of a dust storm on Mars:   (Credit: Brian Grimm and Nilton Renno) ScienceDaily.com  Read More →

DEFINITIVE EVIDENCE FOR LAKE ON MARS FOUND

A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has discovered the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars, an indication of a deep, ancient lake there and a finding with implications for the discovery of past life on the Red Planet. Image from http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/14725.php?from=139180  Read More →

CASSINI FINDS TITAN’S CLOUDS HANG ON TO SUMMER

Cloud chasers studying Saturn’s moon Titan say its clouds form and move much like those on Earth, but in a much slower, more lingering fashion. Their forecast for Titan’s early autumn - warm and wetter.  Read More →

JUPITER-LIKE PLANET FOUND ORBITING ONE OF SMALLEST STARS

The newfound exoplanet, called VB 10b, is about 20 light-years away in the constellation Aquila. It is a gas giant, with a mass six times that of Jupiter’s, and an orbit far enough away from its star to be labeled a “cold Jupiter” similar to our own. In reality, the planet’s own internal heat would give it an Earth-like temperature. The planet’s star, called VB 10, is tiny. It is what’s known as an M-dwarf and is... Read more

METEOROID BOMBARDMENT MAY HAVE MADE EARTH (AND MARS) MORE HABITABLE

Researchers suggest the delivery of this water could have made Earth’s and Mars’ atmospheres wetter. The release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide could have trapped more energy from sunlight to make Earth and Mars warm enough to sustain liquid oceans. Image from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601085930.htm  Read More →

REAL ESTATE HUNTING ON MARS

Arizona State University researchers and scientists have created two new features for Google Earth 5.0, the popular online application that lets users tour Earth, the starry sky, and the Red Planet Mars. The first of the new features lets anyone, anywhere, recommend places on Mars to photograph with ASU’s THEMIS camera on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter.  Read More →

MARS: VICTORIA CRATER - WINDY AND WET

Rover Opportunity’s two-year exploration of Victoria Crater has yielded information that supports  previous findings indicating that water once flowed on the planet’s surface.   Simulated image from  nssinsl.wordpress.com/2007/08/16/.  Read More →

WORLD OF WEIRD THINGS: WHY WE’RE NOT READY FOR MARS

From GFISH:  The first problem is propulsion.  The second issue is the size constraint for our spacecraft.  The third issue has been mentioned before, but it needs to be repeated. The cost.  Read the entire post here.  Read More →

TITAN MAY HAVE SUBSURFACE HYDROCARBON OCEAN

The new findings may help explain the presence of large lakes of hydrocarbons at both of Titan’s poles.  Read More →

MISSIONS PLANNED TO PHOBOS

Efforts to reach the martian moon Phobos have long been outshined by missions to the Red Planet itself. Now, scientists in Russia, Canada and the U.S. are preparing their own missions to the largest moon of Mars. Mars actually has two moons: Phobos and Deimos.  Read More →

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