atmosphere

Astronomers Report They’ve Detected the Amino Acid Glycine in the Atmosphere of Venus

Does it feel like all eyes are on Venus these days? The discovery of the potential biomarker phosphine in the…

4 years ago

Did Pioneer See Phosphine in the Clouds of Venus Decades Ago?

The discovery of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere has generated a lot of interest. It has the potential to be a…

4 years ago

Maybe Volcanoes Could Explain the Phosphine in Venus’ Atmosphere

The detection of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere was one of those quintessential moments in space science. It was an unexpected…

4 years ago

Climate Change is Making the Atmosphere Worse for Astronomy

Modern astronomical telescopes are extraordinarly powerful. And we keep making them more powerful. With telescopes like the Extremely Large Telescope…

4 years ago

Astronomers Continue to Analyze Pluto’s Atmosphere

When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, studying the atmosphere was a key scientific objective. Most of what we…

5 years ago

New Data Show How Phytoplankton Pumps Carbon Out of the Atmosphere at an Enormous Scale

One of the most fascinating things about planet Earth is the way that life shapes the Earth and the Earth…

5 years ago

Astronomers Can Actually See the Clouds and Weather on Brown Dwarf 6.5 Light-Years Away

Brown dwarfs are in a tough spot. Not quite a star, not quite a planet, they occupy a place between…

5 years ago

The Atmosphere On Venus Rotates Faster than the Planet, and Now Astronomers Think They Know Why

Venus is unique—almost—in our Solar System because it's what's known as a "super-rotator." That means that Venus' atmosphere rotates faster…

5 years ago

Astronomers Measure the Wind Speed on a Brown Dwarf for the First Time. Spoiler: Insanely Fast

In some ways, brown dwarfs are nature's stellar oddballs. A lot of stars exhibit strange behaviour at different times in…

5 years ago

Clouds On Jupiter Rising Up Above the Surrounding Atmosphere

Though it looks like it to us, Jupiter's clouds do no form a flat surface. Some of its clouds rise…

5 years ago