Planets

An image captured by the IoIO instrument on November 9, 2022, showing the sodium nebula emissions from the outburst originating from Io

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A violent volcanic outburst was detected on Jupiter’s moon Io by Jeff Morgenthaler using the Io Input/Output observatory (IoIO) at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI). The scientist of this non-profit organization based in Arizona has been monitoring Io since 2017, observing several outbursts but the one in autumn 2022 was the most violent. This monitoring can also be useful for the mission of NASA’s Juno space probe, in orbit around Jupiter, as NASA is planning a Io flyby in December 2023 in which its instruments will be able to carry out measurements of the emitted gases such as sodium and ionized sulfur.

Sand dunes covered by frost on Mars (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

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To celebrate the winter solstice on Earth and the start of winter in the northern hemisphere, NASA has released some photos captured on Mars by its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter space probe’s HiRISE camera showing what some Martian areas look like when it’s winter on the red planet. Seeing snowfall is still beyond the possibilities of the available instruments but frozen or at least frost-covered landscapes show some of the marvels of Mars.

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports a study on the exoplanet Kepler-1658b which predicts the decay of its orbit until it’s destroyed by its star. A team of researchers used data gathered from observations conducted over several years, from those by the Kepler Space Telescope that discovered Kepler-1658b to those by the TESS Space Telescope to examine its orbit. The conclusion is that this gas giant is slowly approaching its star and will be destroyed in the future.

An artist's impression of the GJ 1002 system with its two planets

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the discovery of two exoplanets that are slightly larger than Earth in the GJ 1002 star system, almost 16 light-years away from Earth. A team of researchers used a combination of data collected by two spectrographs, ESPRESSO mounted on the VLT and CARMENES at the Calar Alto observatory, to study GJ 1002 and find the traces of two exoplanets around it. Both of them are within their system’s habitable zone where there could be conditions similar to those on Earth. The top image (Courtesy Alejandro Suárez Mascareño and Inés Bonet (IAC)) shows an artist’s impression of the GJ 1002 system with its two planets.

Artist's concept of the exoplanet WASP-39b and its star (Image NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI))

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Five articles, three of which were accepted for publication in the journal “Nature” and two still under peer review, report various aspects of a study on the exoplanet WASP-39b. Many researchers participated in various ways in examining observations conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope focused in particular on the atmosphere of this very hot planet. Webb’s various instruments made it possible to detect a number of substances in WASP-39b’s atmosphere such as carbon monoxide, sodium, and potassium. For the first time, sulfur dioxide was detected in the atmosphere of an exoplanet and indicate that photochemical reactions are taking place.