Tag

Atmosphere

All articles tagged with #atmosphere

space27 days ago•136 min saved

Venus Is Hotter Than Mercury: The Heat Blanket That Traps the Heat

Venus ends up hotter than Mercury not because it’s closer to the Sun, but because its thick CO2 atmosphere and dense clouds trap heat so effectively that infrared energy is repeatedly absorbed and re-emitted, creating a strong greenhouse effect. Mercury, by contrast, has almost no atmosphere, so it heats during the day but cools dramatically at night. Even though Venus reflects a large portion of sunlight, the atmosphere’s heat-trapping blanket means the planet’s surface stays extremely hot, illustrating that distance from the Sun is only part of a planet’s climate story.

via livescience.com|

#atmosphere #greenhouse-effect #mercury

science1 month ago•12 min saved

Saturn’s South Pole Hosts a Ten-Sided Storm, Echoing the Northern Hexagon

NASA/ESA's Hubble observations reveal a roughly 104,000-mile-wide decagon circling Saturn's south pole, a geometric counterpart to the long-running north polar hexagon. The polygon appears as a deep, vertically extended atmospheric wave tied to a fast circumpolar jet and tracked across multiple years by the OPAL program, implying that Saturn's atmosphere can form polygonal jets at both poles under the right conditions. Ongoing monitoring with Hubble, JWST, and atmospheric models will determine its longevity and what it reveals about Saturn's winds and vertical structure.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #decagon #hexagon

space1 month ago•10 min saved

Mars Winter: When CO2 Locks the Air into Ice at the Poles

Winter on Mars freezes CO2 from the thin air into a growing polar cap and even dry-ice snow; the cap can store up to about 16% of the atmosphere, causing a global pressure swing of roughly 25%. Temperatures can plunge to around -130°C, with wide local variation by latitude, altitude and surface heat properties. In spring, CO2 sublimates back to gas and pressure rises again as the cap recedes. The northern and southern winters differ due to orbital timing and topography, but the cycle is one integrated CO2 exchange between air and ground.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #carbon-dioxide #mars

science1 month ago•7 min saved

Saturn's South Pole Unveils a Ten-Sided Polar Wave

Scientists have spotted a ten-sided decagon around Saturn’s south pole, the planet’s second polygonal weather feature after the north-pole hexagon. Using 2023–2025 observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and amateur astronomers, the decagon appears as a vast atmospheric wave riding on a strong eastward jet near 60°S, migrating about 10 km/h while the jet runs about 420 km/h. The feature spans multiple altitudes and could not be reproduced by current simulations, leaving its formation mechanism and relation to a nearby anticyclone (the “Red Spot”) open to further study. The finding, published in Science Advances (Sánchez-Lavega et al., 2026), offers a real-time window into how Saturn builds polygonal weather patterns.

via ScienceAlert|

#atmosphere #decagon #hubble

science1 month ago•24 min saved

Saturn's south pole harbors a ten-sided cloud storm

Astronomers have observed a rotating, ten-sided cloud pattern around Saturn's south pole—a rare decagonal storm captured in NASA/ESA imagery, offering new insights into the planet's atmospheric dynamics.

via AP News|

#atmosphere #decagon #nasa-esa

space1 month ago•11 min saved

Tiny 500-km world beyond Neptune may host a fleeting atmosphere

A 2024 stellar occultation suggests the 500-km trans-Neptunian object 2002 XV93 has a global atmosphere of about 100–200 nanobars, thin but detectable for such a small body; without replenishment it would escape in under 1,000 years. The gas species aren’t identified yet, and possible sources include a recent collision or ongoing cryovolcanism. Webb observations found no obvious surface ice reservoir to explain it, so independent verification through future occultations or infrared spectroscopy is needed to determine the origin and fate of this ephemeral atmosphere.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #cryovolcanism #impact

space1 month ago•11 min saved

Pluto’s thinning sky hints at nitrogen frost as it drifts from the Sun

A 2026 study of ten occultations (2017–2023) finds Pluto’s atmospheric pressure likely dropped about 16% since 2021, with nitrogen possibly freezing onto the surface as the dwarf planet moves away from the Sun. Model differences mean the future of Pluto’s atmosphere is not settled—some scenarios suggest further loss, others suggest a persistent, seasonally cycling atmosphere—making ongoing occultations crucial to map its long-term nitrogen cycle.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #climate #nitrogen

science1 month ago•8 min saved

Starlink Data Reveals New Window into Earth's Thermosphere

Public Starlink ephemeris data enables tomographic mapping of the thermosphere; researchers have used it to estimate atmospheric density at high altitudes, with results aligning with dedicated satellites like SWARM-B, suggesting this LEO constellation could become a major resource for upper-atmosphere science.

via Hackaday|

#atmosphere #remote-sensing #science

science1 month ago•11 min saved

Titan’s climate: a warming blanket and a cooling haze leave surface only modestly above the model

Titan’s climate is a tug-of-war between a greenhouse warming (+21 K, ~38°F) from its thick atmosphere and a high-altitude antigreenhouse cooling (−9 K, ~16°F) from hazy skies. Net effect: the surface sits about 22°F warmer than Titan’s effective temperature (94 K vs 82 K). Huygens and Cassini measurements corroborate the surface temperature, while the breakdown into warming and cooling terms comes from a 1991 model by McKay, Pollack and Courtin, illustrating Titan’s climate as a balance of large opposing processes.

via Space Daily|

#antigreenhouse #atmosphere #cassini-huygens

space-and-astronomy1 month ago•55 min saved

Pluto’s atmosphere begins to freeze out as it drifts farther from the Sun

Astronomers report Pluto’s nitrogen-rich atmosphere is starting to freeze out as it moves away from the Sun, with atmospheric pressure dropping about 16% between mid-2021 and 2023. Pluto’s surface runs at roughly -382°F while the upper atmosphere sits around -333°F, conditions that favor frost formation as the air cools. Observations of ten stellar occultations from 2017–2023 show haze in the lower atmosphere settling toward lower latitudes as pressure falls. The findings, led by Amanda Sickafoose, suggest the atmosphere will not be fully frozen by aphelion (2114) but should rebuild somewhat as Pluto travels back toward the Sun. The study was published July 31 in the Planetary Science Journal.

via Yahoo|

#atmosphere #frost #nitrogen

space2 months ago•159 min saved

Pluto's Atmosphere Freezes as It Moves Away from the Sun

Pluto’s nitrogen‑rich atmosphere is starting to condense into frost as it drifts farther from the Sun on its 248‑year orbit. Surface temperatures are about -382°F (-230°C) and the upper atmosphere around -333°F (-203°C). Observations of ten stellar occultations from 2017–2023 show atmospheric pressure has declined ~16% since 2021 (likely haze settling to lower latitudes). NASA’s New Horizons had measured a baseline atmospheric pressure of about 10 microbars in 2015. Pluto’s aphelion will occur in 2114 at ~49 AU, and the atmosphere isn’t expected to be fully frozen by then; frost could sublimate and the atmosphere thicken again as Pluto heads back toward the Sun.

via Space|

#atmosphere #frost #new-horizons

space2 months ago•12 min saved

Helium leak confirms atmosphere on first rocky world in a habitable zone

Astronomers detected a helium signal escaping from LHS 1140 b duringtransits, providing the first atmospheric confirmation for a rocky planet in a star’s habitable zone and placing it 48 light-years away in Cetus. The finding shows an atmosphere exists, but leaves questions about its composition, pressure and surface conditions. The observation used the Magellan telescope in 2024, with a recheck in 2025 that yielded a non-detection, suggesting the escape can vary with the star’s high-energy output; further repeated helium detections and Webb observations are planned to probe the planet’s gases and potential habitability.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #exoplanets #habitable-zone

space-and-spaceflight2 months ago•17 min saved

Pluto's Atmosphere Thins as It Recedes, Hinting at Collapse

New Horizons data and Earth-based stellar occultations show Pluto’s atmospheric pressure rose from 1988 to 2015, stayed roughly constant until about 2021, and then declined by as much as 16% by 2022 as the dwarf planet moved farther from the Sun, potentially signaling the first signs of atmospheric collapse that had been anticipated for decades; continued observations over the coming years will be needed to confirm the trend, with Pluto not returning closer to the Sun until 2114.

via Gizmodo|

#atmosphere #new-horizons #occultations

space2 months ago•11 min saved

Mars Water Mystery: Escaped to Space, Hidden Deep Underground

Mars was once wet, with rivers and possibly an ocean, but two fates explain its drying: much water vapour escaped to space after the magnetic shield faded, while a newer view suggests a deep, crustal reservoir could still hold vast amounts of water — possibly enough to flood the planet if released. MAVEN confirms ongoing atmospheric loss, but the deep-water interpretation remains debated and not yet proven; Perseverance’s Jezero samples could test past habitability, and future seismic or drilling missions would be needed to confirm buried stores.

via spacedaily.com|

#atmosphere #mars #seismology

technology2 months ago•57 min saved

Bluesky's Toni Schneider outlines an open, private-by-design social web

Bluesky’s new permanent CEO Toni Schneider pitches a decade-long plan to grow the open AT Protocol and ATmosphere: keep Bluesky as a text-first, ad-free app while expanding private, member-based spaces, distributed moderation, and ecosystem-wide monetization. He also pushes protocol governance to independent bodies (IETF and a Swiss foundation) and envisions a federated network of thousands of apps built on AT Proto, with user data and identity owned by users.

via The Verge|

#atmosphere #atproto #bluesky