An article published in the journal “Geophysical Research Letters” describes a research in which computer models were used to simulate the possible past climate on the planet Venus. A team of scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) led by Michael Way concluded that perhaps two billion years ago on Venus there was an ocean of liquid water on the surface and the conditions were favorable to life.
An article published in the journal “Meteoritics & Planetary Science” describes a research on the ancient lake that existed in today’s Gale Crater on Mars. Scientists at the Open University and the University of Leicester used data collected by NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity to understand the old conditions in Gale Crater concluding that the environment was similar to the Earth and in favor of the presence of life forms.
An article published in the journal “Nature” describes a research about the internal structure of the dwarf planet Ceres. A team led by Ryan Park of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) analyzed very precisely the movements of the Dawn space probe, which is orbiting Ceres, to get clues that suggest that it’s composed of a number of layers with the densest in its core and some weak layers that include ice water.
An article published in the “Journal of Geophysical Research” describes a research funded by NASA on the atmosphere of Io, one of the “Galilean” moons of Jupiter. A group of scientists led by Constantine Tsang of the Southwest Research Institute detected the changes taking place in the atmosphere of Io, noting how it collapses when it enters Jupiter’s shadow and the temperature drops.
An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” describes a research on the craters found on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres by NASA’s Dawn space probe. A team of scientists led by Simone Marchi of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder argues that there are fewer large craters than expected and the reason is that were obliterated.
