Surface Of Mars
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Scientists Map Ancient Mars River Basins For First Time, Offering New Clues In Search For Past Life
This research was published on November 24 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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ESA Reveals City-Size ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Crater on Mars Containing Signs of Ancient Water
ESA has captured a city-sized butterfly-shaped crater on Mars with smooth wings likely formed by melted underground ice. Studying this rare structure helps scientists understand asteroid impacts, Mars’ surface ice, and the planet’s ancient watery past while offering insight into how unusual crater formations develop on the Red Planet.
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AI-Assisted Study Finds No Evidence of Liquid Water in Mars’ Seasonal Dark Streaks
A large-scale AI analysis of more than two million Mars orbiter images shows that the planet’s dark slope streaks form through seasonal dust avalanches, not flowing briny water. The results settle a long-running debate, revealing that wind-driven dust activity shapes Mars’ surface and offering new insights into the planet’s climate past and e...
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Mars Orbiters Take Rare Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Zooming Past Red Planet
ExoMars TGO captured a series of images with its Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS).
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Mercury Has Shrunk by Several Kilometers Over Billions of Years, Scientists Report
Mercury’s surface reveals it has been shrinking for billions of years due to cooling and faulting. A new study estimates the planet’s radius has contracted by 2.7–5.6 kilometers, offering the most precise figures yet. The findings sharpen understanding of Mercury’s thermal evolution and could help scientists apply the same techniques to tec...
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ESA’s Mars Express Discovers Deep Valleys and Frozen Features Hinting at Mars’ Icy Past
In July 2025, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high-resolution image of Acheron Fossae, a region marked by deep chasms and ridges on Mars’s surface. These features, created by ancient crustal stretching, split the terrain into raised horsts and sunken grabens. Valley floors reveal smooth surfaces carved by slow-moving...
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NASA's Curiosity Rover Spots Coral-Shaped Rock On Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recently sent back black and white images of a rock on the Martian surface that looks remarkably like a piece of coral.
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Scientists Explore Role of Space Radiation in Powering Alien Microbial Life
A new study proposes that life may exist far from sunlight in a “radiolytic habitable zone” deep beneath the icy surfaces of Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Cosmic rays, which can penetrate rock and ice, break water molecules apart to release hydrogen, oxygen, and energy-rich electrons. These can fuel microbes in subsurface water, much like bacter...
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Glaciers On Mars Are Mostly Water Ice, Study Finds
Scientists used the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the glaciers.
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Mars Dust Devils May Spark Lightning, Might Pose Risks to Rovers: Study
A new computer-modeling study reveals that dust devils on Mars—swirling columns of dust and air—may become electrically charged enough to spark lightning-like discharges. Led by researcher Varun Sheel, the study simulates how dry Martian conditions and frictional collisions between dust grains can generate strong electric fields inside these vo...
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From Buck Moon To Pluto's Rare Appearance, 8 Must-See Night Sky Events In July
Here's a guide to the top celestial highlights to look out for in the July night sky.
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Curiosity Rover Reaches Uyuni Quad, Begins New Mars Mapping and Surface Analysis Campaign
NASA’s Curiosity rover has entered the Uyuni quad on Mars, beginning a new leg of its mission. The rover completed a 48-metre drive and is now collecting fresh data on sedimentary textures and surface chemistry. With a focus on remote sensing and contact science, the team hopes to uncover clues about past Martian environments.
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The Promise And Peril Of A Crewed Mars Mission
Mars mission would pursue scientific objectives like determining whether Mars ever hosted life and charting the evolution of its surface, as well as answering broader questions -- such as the history of the Sun through studying Martian soil.
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MAVEN Reveals How Mars Lost Its Atmosphere and Became a Barren World
NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of "sputtering"—a powerful atmospheric escape process where solar wind particles blast atoms off Mars. The newly published study confirms that this process played a major role in the Red Planet’s transformation from a once-wet, habitable world to its current barren state. Argon ga...
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NASA’s Perseverance Captures Deimos Before Dawn in Striking Martian Sky Image
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a rare pre-dawn image of Mars’ moon Deimos on Sol 1433, stitching together 16 long-exposure shots into a 52-second composition. Despite image noise and cosmic interference, the photo reveals Deimos, stars like Regulus and Algieba, and Martian sky conditions, highlighting the rover’s expanding role in celesti...
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Scientists Map Ancient Mars River Basins For First Time, Offering New Clues In Search For Past Life
This research was published on November 24 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
-
ESA Reveals City-Size ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ Crater on Mars Containing Signs of Ancient Water
ESA has captured a city-sized butterfly-shaped crater on Mars with smooth wings likely formed by melted underground ice. Studying this rare structure helps scientists understand asteroid impacts, Mars’ surface ice, and the planet’s ancient watery past while offering insight into how unusual crater formations develop on the Red Planet.
-
AI-Assisted Study Finds No Evidence of Liquid Water in Mars’ Seasonal Dark Streaks
A large-scale AI analysis of more than two million Mars orbiter images shows that the planet’s dark slope streaks form through seasonal dust avalanches, not flowing briny water. The results settle a long-running debate, revealing that wind-driven dust activity shapes Mars’ surface and offering new insights into the planet’s climate past and e...
-
Mars Orbiters Take Rare Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Zooming Past Red Planet
ExoMars TGO captured a series of images with its Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS).
-
Mercury Has Shrunk by Several Kilometers Over Billions of Years, Scientists Report
Mercury’s surface reveals it has been shrinking for billions of years due to cooling and faulting. A new study estimates the planet’s radius has contracted by 2.7–5.6 kilometers, offering the most precise figures yet. The findings sharpen understanding of Mercury’s thermal evolution and could help scientists apply the same techniques to tec...
-
ESA’s Mars Express Discovers Deep Valleys and Frozen Features Hinting at Mars’ Icy Past
In July 2025, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high-resolution image of Acheron Fossae, a region marked by deep chasms and ridges on Mars’s surface. These features, created by ancient crustal stretching, split the terrain into raised horsts and sunken grabens. Valley floors reveal smooth surfaces carved by slow-moving...
-
NASA's Curiosity Rover Spots Coral-Shaped Rock On Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recently sent back black and white images of a rock on the Martian surface that looks remarkably like a piece of coral.
-
Scientists Explore Role of Space Radiation in Powering Alien Microbial Life
A new study proposes that life may exist far from sunlight in a “radiolytic habitable zone” deep beneath the icy surfaces of Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Cosmic rays, which can penetrate rock and ice, break water molecules apart to release hydrogen, oxygen, and energy-rich electrons. These can fuel microbes in subsurface water, much like bacter...
-
Glaciers On Mars Are Mostly Water Ice, Study Finds
Scientists used the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the glaciers.
-
Mars Dust Devils May Spark Lightning, Might Pose Risks to Rovers: Study
A new computer-modeling study reveals that dust devils on Mars—swirling columns of dust and air—may become electrically charged enough to spark lightning-like discharges. Led by researcher Varun Sheel, the study simulates how dry Martian conditions and frictional collisions between dust grains can generate strong electric fields inside these vo...
-
From Buck Moon To Pluto's Rare Appearance, 8 Must-See Night Sky Events In July
Here's a guide to the top celestial highlights to look out for in the July night sky.
-
Curiosity Rover Reaches Uyuni Quad, Begins New Mars Mapping and Surface Analysis Campaign
NASA’s Curiosity rover has entered the Uyuni quad on Mars, beginning a new leg of its mission. The rover completed a 48-metre drive and is now collecting fresh data on sedimentary textures and surface chemistry. With a focus on remote sensing and contact science, the team hopes to uncover clues about past Martian environments.
-
The Promise And Peril Of A Crewed Mars Mission
Mars mission would pursue scientific objectives like determining whether Mars ever hosted life and charting the evolution of its surface, as well as answering broader questions -- such as the history of the Sun through studying Martian soil.
-
MAVEN Reveals How Mars Lost Its Atmosphere and Became a Barren World
NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of "sputtering"—a powerful atmospheric escape process where solar wind particles blast atoms off Mars. The newly published study confirms that this process played a major role in the Red Planet’s transformation from a once-wet, habitable world to its current barren state. Argon ga...
-
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Deimos Before Dawn in Striking Martian Sky Image
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a rare pre-dawn image of Mars’ moon Deimos on Sol 1433, stitching together 16 long-exposure shots into a 52-second composition. Despite image noise and cosmic interference, the photo reveals Deimos, stars like Regulus and Algieba, and Martian sky conditions, highlighting the rover’s expanding role in celesti...
