Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 2, 2022

Colossal 'planet killer' asteroid sparked mega-tsunami on Mars, and now we know where it landed

A newly discovered impact crater on Mars was likely left by an enormous asteroid that slammed into the Red Planet around 3.4 billion years ago and may have triggered an 800-foot-tall mega-tsunami. The colossal explosion was similar to the asteroid impact on Earth that wiped out the nonavian dinosaurs, a...

Dec 13, 2022

See Mars 'peek out' from behind the moon in stunning eclipse photo

An awe-inspiring new image has captured the moment a tiny and unusually vibrant Mars rose from behind the moon's crater-covered surface during a recent eclipse. The Red Planet was temporarily obscured from Earth’s view by the passing moon during an event known as a lunar occultation, which occurs roughly twice...

Dec 13, 2022

Listen to a Martian dust storm engulf the Perseverance rover in eerie, world-first audio recording

A towering dust storm that engulfed the Mars Perseverance rover in September 2021 was a colossal 390.4 feet (119 meters) tall, the first-ever audio recording of a dust devil on the surface of Mars reveals. The recording, an analysis of which was published Tuesday (Dec. 13) in the journal Nature...

Dec 16, 2022

'Mars' interior is not behaving,' active mantle plume reveals

For decades, astronomers assumed that Mars was geodynamically dead — a planet without rumbling earthquakes and erupting volcanoes. Though remnants of towering volcanoes exist on the surface of the Red Planet today, these colossal structures have been dormant for millions of years. With little to no heat firing the planet's...

Dec 20, 2022

Massive earthquake that shook Mars is 5 times stronger than any other

NASA's InSight Mars Lander has detected a marsquake at least five times as large as the next largest ever recorded on the Red Planet. It had a magnitude of 4.7, lasted more than four hours and was unlike any of the thousands of Marsquakes previously detected. The previous biggest Marsquake,...

Dec 22, 2022

Mars InSight lander sends bittersweet goodbye selfie after 4 years of revealing the Red Planet's mysteries

Update: Shortly after this article was published, NASA confirmed it was unable to contact the Mars InSight lander on two consecutive attempts, ending the four-year mission on the planet's surface. Twilight is closing in on NASA's Mars InSight lander — a robotic seismology lab that has been studying the interior...

Jan 6, 2023

Mars crater is 'chock-full' of opal gemstones, hinting at widespread water and possible microbial life

An ancient, dried-up lake bed on Mars may be teeming with opal gemstones, new data from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover suggests. Beyond giving the cracked surface of Mars' Gale Crater a semiprecious glint, these opals could be evidence that water and rock have been interacting beneath the Martian surface much...

Jan 18, 2023

Mars meteorite that crashed to Earth contains 'huge diversity' of organic compounds

A Martian meteorite that crashed to Earth 12 years ago contains a huge diversity of organic compounds, including one that has never been seen on Mars before, a new study has found. The findings could help scientists understand more about the Red Planet’s habitability and whether it potentially once harbored...

Jan 26, 2023

NASA spies Martian rocks that look just like a teddy bear

Scientists studying the surface of Mars recently found a piece of the rocky planet smiling back at them. In an image shared Jan. 25 by The University of Arizona (UA), what appears to be the face of an enormous Martian teddy bear — complete with two beady eyes, a button...

Jan 30, 2023

Mars is about to be eclipsed by the moon. Here's how to watch.

It's time to take the telescope out. On Monday night (Jan. 30), the moon will eclipse Mars in what's known as an occultation, during which the moon will pass in front of Mars from the perspective of Earth. Unfortunately only a small swath of the planet will be able to...

Feb 9, 2023

You have one last chance to view the green comet this week, thanks to a close flyby with Mars

A rare green comet zipping by Earth for the first time since the Stone Age is about to pass right next to Mars this week, and the once-in-a-lifetime cosmic pairing could be visible through a simple pair of binoculars. The comet, called C/2022 E3 (ZTF), will appear as a faint,...

Feb 16, 2023

NASA rover snaps photos of ancient 'waves' carved into Mars mountainside

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has photographed rocks imprinted with tiny ripples from an ancient lake. And these tiny ripples are making waves on Earth, as they are the clearest evidence yet that water once existed on the Red Planet. The ripple marks were discovered frozen in Martian rock on the...

Feb 24, 2023

Detecting life on Mars may be 'impossible' with current NASA rovers, new study warns

The current generation of Mars rovers may have trouble confirming any signs of ancient life on the Red Planet because their scientific instruments aren't up to snuff, according to research published Feb. 21 in the journal Nature Communications. In the study, researchers conducted tests on sedimentary rocks in the Red...

Mar 1, 2023

China's Mars rover may be dead in the dust, new NASA images reveal

China's Zhurong rover may have reached the end of its lifespan on the Red Planet. New images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal that the Mars rover did not move from its spot on Utopia Planitia, a large plain in Mars' northern hemisphere, between September 2022 and February 2023. The...

Mar 9, 2023

See the first clear images of 'sun rays' on Mars in eerie new NASA photos

NASA's Curiosity rover recently snapped a stunning shot of dazzling sun rays shining through unusually high clouds during a Martian sunset. It is the first time sun rays have been clearly visible on the Red Planet. Curiosity captured the new image on Feb. 2 as part of a series of...