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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
A cool Cassini ring plane crossing animation
Another recent, cool set of images that came down from Cassini was a series taken last week as the spacecraft crossed the ring plane.
New Horizons' raw images are now online
I got an email from John Spencer this morning telling me that the mission had posted all of New Horizons' most recently acquired images on the mission website.
The Saturn view I've been waiting for
Over the weekend, Cassini acquired a set of images that will (I am assuming) eventually be used to produce a glorious portrait of the ringed planet from a point of view that's never been seen before.
More Cassini RADAR images
Cassini just flew by Titan again on Saturday, and should have acquired a new swath of RADAR data.
New Horizons is targeting Jupiter!
New Horizons' Jupiter encounter is officially underway!
Titan's Lakes
The first peer-reviewed article on Titan's lakes comes out in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature.
Mountain range on Titan
A couple of weeks ago there were press releases coming out of the American Geophysical Union meeting about the discovery of a
CIRS gets another view of Enceladus' south polar hot spot
There's a new image product released from the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) on Cassini, an instrument that is capable of measuring the temperatures on the extremely cold surfaces of Saturn's moons and rings.
Saturn from above (2006)
Ever since I first read about the plans for Cassini's tour of the Saturn system I've been looking forward to the current phase of the mission.
Breaking a tie on the Cassini science teams
This week's Cassini Project Update was particularly interesting, because it contained a story about how a difficult decision was made regarding the prioritizing of different science teams' desires for an upcoming Titan flyby.
Cassini VIMS and RADAR: a cryovolcano on Titan?
Yesterday, the VIMS team released several images from Cassini's
Mars Odyssey is in safe mode
According to an update posted on the Athena website by Steve Squyres this morning, the Mars Odyssey orbiter has gone in to safe mode.
New Horizons spots Pluto!
Yesterday the New Horizons team released a flicker animation showing the spacecraft's first sight of Pluto, using the LORRI long-range imaging instrument.
New names for Enceladus' features
The IAU has just approved new names for 35 craters, dorsa, fossae, and sulci on the surface of Enceladus, based upon Cassini's high-resolution mapping of the little moon. What are dorsa, fossae, and sulci, you might ask?
Still no word from Mars Global Surveyor
It's now been nine days since Mars Global Surveyor was last heard from.
A few words from John Spencer on the OPAG meeting
John Spencer, erstwhile guest blogger (see here and here), just sent me a few notes on the recent Outer Planets Assessment Group meeting.
New Horizons is locked on target for its Jupiter encounter
Alan Stern just posted a detailed update on the status of New Horizons in his PI's Perspective blog on the mission website.
MESSENGER's Venus flyby successful
A press release just hit my mailbox stating that MESSENGER has been heard from since its Venus flyby, so there are now only four flybys to go before MESSENGER will be in orbit at Mercury!
MESSENGER is approaching its first Venus flyby
There is a big event taking place tomorrow: the MESSENGER spacecraft flies by Venus for the first time.
Cassini's view from the backside of Saturn
Over time, Cassini's orbit apoapsis—the point on the orbit that is farthest from Saturn—has been shifting slowly toward Saturn's night side. Lately, this point of view has resulted in some truly lovely photos of the planet.