NASA

Occator Crater seen from above and in a perspective view that shows the highest amount of carbonates in red (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/ASI/INAF)

4

An article published in the journal “Nature” describes a new research on the famous white spots in the dwarf planet Ceres’ Occator Crater. According to a team led by Maria Cristina De Sanctis, INAF – IAPS, the most abundant mineral is sodium carbonate. It’s a surprising result because that’s a salt that on Earth is abundant in hydrothermal sources and this raises the possibility of the presence of liquid water in Ceres underground.

The Mars Rover Curiosity in the area of the Buckskin rock (Photo NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

1

An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS) describes the unexpected discovery of a mineral called tridymite by the Mars Rover Curiosity in Gale Crater on Mars. The analysis of a sample from a rock called Buckskin revealed the presence of tridymite, which on Earth forms as a result of much more intense volcanic activity than that assumed esisted in the past on Mars.

Charon, Nyx and Hydra (Image NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

0

NASA has published a comparative analysis of the spectral measurements of three moons of the dwarf planet Pluto which prove that in particular Nyx but also Hydra have a surface covered in water ice. The New Horizons space probe’s LEISA instrument carried out the measurements during the July 14, 2015 flyby. Unfortunately the location of the other two small moons, Styx and Kerberos in those hours didn’t allow spectral measurements.

Krun Macula, the borders of Sputnik Planum and their place on Pluto (Image NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

0

NASA released an image of an area of ​​Pluto informally called Krun Macula that shows the variability on the dwarf planet. Obtained by putting together various photographs taken by NASA’s New Horizons space probe during its July 14, 2015 flyby, it shows the border area between the icy plains of the heart-shaped region and the nearby highlands.