Solar system

Analysis and Comment (6)

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An artist’s impression of water particles ‘raining’ onto Saturn from its rings. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/University of Leicester

Space oddity: how Saturn’s rings are rainmakers

By Helen Maynard-Casely, Australian Synchrotron

In space no one can hear you scream, but you may get a bit wet. In particular, if you were thinking of journeying to take in the sights of Saturn, it would be a good idea to pack an umbrella. This is…
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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin and his colleagues on the Apollo 11 mission inspired generations to be interested in lunar exploration. EPA/NASA

Satellite of love: our on-off relationship with the moon

By Jonti Horner

Like all relationships, our association with the moon has had its ups and downs. In this series we’ve talked about the nature of the satellite and how we think it was formed – in a giant collision that…
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The moon in total lunar eclipse as seen over Sydney in 2011. AAP/Sydney Observatory

I see the moon: introducing our nearest neighbour

By Jonti Horner

The moon. Our nearest neighbour. The main source of the ocean’s tides, and a beacon that drives the lives of animals across the globe. And also, to date, the only object beyond Earth on which humans have…
Moons
We may finally have an answer to a long-standing cosmic/ cosmetic issue. NASA

Was our two-faced moon in a small collision?

By Jonti Horner

As of today, we have a cataclysmic new explanation for one of solar system astronomy’s most long-standing questions: why do the near- and far-sides of the Moon look so different? This new theory, published…

Research Briefs (4)

Wild is the (solar) wind

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Satellite observations have revealed that magnetic oscillations carrying energy from the Sun’s surface into its outer atmosphere…

Fourth Pluto moon found

Space Telescope Science Institute

A fourth moon has been discovered in the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto by researchers at a leading space science centre…

Participants (20)