Featured
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Letter |
Polar methane accumulation and rainstorms on Titan from simulations of the methane cycle
Simulations reproduce previously unexplained features of Titan’s methane cycle, attributing them to atmospheric instabilities and cold-trapping of methane in the polar regions.
- T. Schneider
- , S. D. B. Graves
- & M. E. Brown
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Letter |
A compact system of small planets around a former red-giant star
Two planets around the post-red-giant star KIC 05807616 are shown to have survived being engulfed by the former red giant
- S. Charpinet
- , G. Fontaine
- & J. H. Telting
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Letter |
Two Earth-sized planets orbiting Kepler-20
Two exoplanets of Earth’s size have been discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-20.
- Francois Fressin
- , Guillermo Torres
- & Kamal Uddin
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News & Views |
Redox state of early magmas
A study of cerium in zircon minerals has allowed an assessment of the redox conditions that prevailed when Earth's earliest magmas formed. The results suggest that the mantle became oxidized sooner than had been thought. See Letter p.79
- Bruno Scaillet
- & Fabrice Gaillard
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News & Views |
Probing the core's light elements
A fine marriage between seismic data and laboratory experiments carried out at the extreme conditions of Earth's deep interior indicates that the planet's liquid outer core is poor in oxygen. See Letter p.513
- Thomas S. Duffy
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News Feature |
Mike Malin: The Mars observer
How the reclusive Mike Malin changed the way that scientists view Mars.
- Eric Hand
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Editorial |
Desirable partners
US refusal to collaborate with China on space science is short-sighted and misguided, from both a scientific and a pragmatic standpoint.
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News & Views |
Europa awakening
Brines percolating in the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa may be responsible for the satellite's enigmatic chaotic terrains. A new model predicts that one such terrain is currently forming over shallow subsurface water. See Letter p.502
- Laszlo P. Keszthelyi
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Letter |
Active formation of ‘chaos terrain’ over shallow subsurface water on Europa
- B. E. Schmidt
- , D. D. Blankenship
- & P. M. Schenk
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News |
Russia gets the red planet blues
Phobos probe failure puts planetary comeback in doubt.
- Eric Hand
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News & Views |
Ancient lunar dynamo
The differential rotation between the Moon's core and mantle may have powered the ancient lunar dynamo, either continuously over several hundred million years or intermittently after large impacts. See Letters p.212 & p.215
- Dominique Jault
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Letter |
A long-lived lunar dynamo driven by continuous mechanical stirring
- C. A. Dwyer
- , D. J. Stevenson
- & F. Nimmo
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News |
Russia takes aim at Phobos
Mission to Martian moon is the country's first interplanetary attempt since 1996.
- Eric Hand
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News |
Astronomers gear up for asteroid fly-by
An unusually close near-Earth asteroid gets observers excited.
- Eugenie Samuel Reich
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Review Article |
Subsurface water and clay mineral formation during the early history of Mars
- Bethany L. Ehlmann
- , John F. Mustard
- & Yves Langevin
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News & Views |
Eris under scrutiny
A stellar occultation by the dwarf planet Eris provides a new estimate of its size. It also reveals a surprisingly bright planetary surface, which could indicate the relatively recent condensation of a putative atmosphere. See Letter p.493
- Amanda Gulbis
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Letter |
Mixed aromatic–aliphatic organic nanoparticles as carriers of unidentified infrared emission features
- Sun Kwok
- & Yong Zhang
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Letter |
A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultation
- B. Sicardy
- , J. L. Ortiz
- & H. Hernández-Toledo
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News |
Europe looks to Russia after NASA falls short on ExoMars
The US agency's shrinking budget and growing space-telescope costs are squeezing other projects.
- Ron Cowen
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News |
Comets take pole position as water bearers
Matching chemical signatures indicate that Kuiper comets brought water to Earth.
- Ron Cowen
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Letter |
Ocean-like water in the Jupiter-family comet 103P/Hartley 2
- Paul Hartogh
- , Dariusz C. Lis
- & Geoffrey A. Blake
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News |
Saturn's moon has never-ending winter
Millions of years of snowfall on Enceladus boost promise of subsurface ocean.
- Ron Cowen
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News |
Close-ups reveal a weirder Mercury
MESSENGER spacecraft results challenge theories about the planet's early history.
- Ron Cowen
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News & Views |
Earth's patchy late veneer
A 'late veneer' of meteoritic material, added after Earth's core had formed, may be the source of our noble metals. Its absence from some parts of Earth's mantle will now force a rethink about this late accretion. See Letter p.195
- Thorsten Kleine
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News |
Venus scientists fear neglect
Researchers say that infrequent visits are hindering studies of the nearest planet.
- Eric Hand
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News |
Asteroid visit finds familiar dust
Samples from 25143 Itokawa show it has similar make-up to most meteorites on Earth.
- Richard A. Lovett
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Feature |
Commercial space flight: Scientists in space
Adventure-seeking researchers could benefit from NASA's exit from manned space flight.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
Chronological evidence that the Moon is either young or did not have a global magma ocean
- Lars E. Borg
- , James N. Connelly
- & Richard W. Carlson
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News |
Close-up of Vesta poses puzzle
Astronomers keen to look into strange hole on second-largest asteroid.
- Ron Cowen
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News |
Dark streaks guide search for life on Mars
Seasonal features could be seeping brines.
- Eric Hand
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News & Views |
Making mountains out of a moon
The Moon's cratered surface preserves the record of impacts that occurred during the late stages of its accretion. New simulations show that a collision with a companion moon may have formed the lunar farside highlands. See Letter p.69
- Maria T. Zuber
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News |
Early Earth may have had two moons
Collision with lost second satellite would explain Moon's asymmetry.
- Richard Lovett
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News |
Closing in on Jupiter's past
NASA's Juno mission aims to reveal how the Solar System's largest planet was formed.
- Eric Hand
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News |
NASA picks Mars landing site
Curiosity rover will explore Gale Crater, which may hold clues to past habitability.
- Eric Hand
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News |
Dawn nears Vesta
Mission poised to explore the Solar System's largest asteroids in detail.
- Ron Cowen
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News |
Neptune begins to give up its secrets
Scientists have discovered how fast the Solar System's outermost planet rotates, but it still holds many mysteries.
- Richard A. Lovett
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Research Highlights |
Nuclear network detects fireball
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News & Views |
Storm-clouds brooding on towering heights
Springtime on Saturn came in with a bang last December, when a massive storm erupted in its north temperate zone. This rare event has been observed in unprecedented detail from the ground and from space. See Letters p.71 & p.75
- Peter Read
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Letter |
Deep winds beneath Saturn’s upper clouds from a seasonal long-lived planetary-scale storm
- A. Sánchez-Lavega
- , T. del Río-Gaztelurrutia
- & K. Yunoki
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News |
Gale Crater on target to become next Mars landing site
Scientists recommend destination for roving science laboratory 'Curiosity'.
- Eric Hand
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Letter |
A salt-water reservoir as the source of a compositionally stratified plume on Enceladus
- F. Postberg
- , J. Schmidt
- & R. Srama
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Letter |
A low mass for Mars from Jupiter’s early gas-driven migration
- Kevin J. Walsh
- , Alessandro Morbidelli
- & Avi M. Mandell
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