Scientists may have identified a molecule that played a key role in robbing Venus of its water and turning this planet into the barren, hellish world we see today. Venus is often called “Earth’s twin” because both planets are approximately the same size and density; they are also both rocky planets in the inner solar … Read more
Today, the atmosphere of our neighboring planet Venus is as hot as a pizza oven and drier than the driest desert on Earth – but it wasn’t always that way. Billions of years ago, Venus had as much water as Earth does today. If that water was once liquid, Venus might once have been habitable. … Read more
Today, the atmosphere of our neighboring planet Venus is as hot as a pizza oven and drier than the driest desert on Earth – but it wasn’t always that way. Billions of years ago, Venus had as much water as Earth does today. If that water was once liquid, Venus might once have been habitable. … Read more
Saturn has 146 confirmed moons – more than any other planet in the solar system – but one called Enceladus stands out. It seems to have the ingredients for life. From 2004 to 2017, Cassini – a joint mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency – examined Saturn, its rings … Read more
Astronomers have discovered that a small moon of Saturn, called Mimas, may harbor a hidden liquid ocean beneath its thick icy shell and thus have the conditions for habitability. This shocking finding radically changes the definition of what an ocean moon can be, and could ultimately redefine our search for extraterrestrial life on moons in … Read more
When it comes to detecting the presence of liquid water on planets outside the solar system, and thus the conditions necessary for life, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may want to look for what’s missing rather than what is is. This is what that means. A team of researchers, including scientists from the Massachusetts … Read more