Space Probes

The Medusae Fossae Formation seen by Mars Odyssey. Mars based on data from the MOLA instrument (Image NASA, modified by Chmee2)

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An article published in the journal “Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets” describes a research on the Medusae Fossae Formation on Mars. A team of researchers coordinated by the Johns Hopkins University analyzed this geological formation finding its possible origin in explosive volcanic eruptions that over three billion years ago ejected ash, rock and gas. It could add important information about Mars interior and its past.

Artist's concept of lightning distribution in Jupiter's northern hemisphere (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/JunoCam)

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Two articles, one published in the journal “Nature” and one published in “Nature Astronomy”, describe two researches on Jovian lightning. A team led by Shannon Brown of NASA’s JPL described the ways in which lightning strikes on the planet Jupiter are similar to those on Earth even if they’re someway the opposite. Another team led by Ivana Kolmašová of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague created the largest database of low-frequency radio emissions generated by lightning strikes on Jupiter, called in jargon whistlers. In both cases, the researchers used data collected by NASA’s Juno space probe.

Sputnik Planitia

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An article published in the journal “Icarus” describes a research that offers an explanation for the formation of the dwarf planet Pluto. A team of scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) put together data collected by NASA’s New Horizons space probe and data collected by ESA’s Rosetta space probe, which studied comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, concluding that Pluto formed by the union of about a billion comets similar to it.

Illustration of Jupiter, Europa, magnetic field lines and the Galileo space probe (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Michigan)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” describes a new examination of data about Europa, one of the great moons of Jupiter, collected in 1997 by NASA’s Galileo space probe. A team of researchers used new computer models to interpret an anomaly in the magnetic field around Europa that had remained unexplained. The result of the new examination is that the anomaly was generated by plumes of water vapor containing various compounds, a new proof of their existence.

Electron magnetic reconnection's scheme

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An article published in the journal “Nature” describes the discovery of a new type of magnetic reconnection. A team of researchers used data collected by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) space probes to discover this phenomenon occurring in a boundary layer between the supersonic solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field called magnetosheath. What was called electron magnetic reconnection is very different from the standard phenomenon and converts magnetic energy into high speed electron jets.