Planets Content

Explaining the Tiger Stripes of Enceladus

Andy Fell — December 09, 2019 - 11:53am

Saturn’s tiny, frozen moon Enceladus is a strange place. Just 300 miles across, the moon is thought to have an outer shell of ice covering a global ocean 20 miles deep, encasing a rocky core. Slashed across Enceladus’ south pole are four straight, parallel fissures or “tiger stripes” from which water erupts. These fissures aren’t quite like anything else in the solar system.

Professor Discusses Significance of Moon Landing on 51�ԹϺ�� Davis Live Friday

Amy E Rafferty — July 11, 2019 - 8:37am

51�ԹϺ�� Davis Professor Sarah Stewart, an expert on planet formation, will discuss the significance of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on 51�ԹϺ�� Davis Live at 2:30 p.m. PDT Friday (July 12). You can listen to the discussion and ask her questions live here.

Scientist Who Studies How Planets Form Named MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellow

Andy Fell — October 04, 2018 - 1:53pm

The MacArthur Foundation has named Sarah T. Stewart, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Davis, who has developed novel theories about the formation of the Earth and moon, among the 2018 class of MacArthur Fellows. Sometimes known as the “Genius Grants,” the MacArthur Fellowship is a $625,000 award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential.

How Did the Moon Get Where It Is?

Karen Michele Nikos — September 17, 2018 - 4:47pm

Earth’s moon is an unusual object in our solar system, and now there’s a new theory to explain how it got where it is, which puts some twists on the current “giant impact” theory.

Synestia, a New Type of Planetary Object

Andy Fell — May 22, 2017 - 2:47pm

There’s something new to look for in the heavens, and it’s called a “synestia,” according to planetary scientists Simon Lock at Harvard University and Sarah Stewart at the University of California, Davis. A synestia, they propose, would be a huge, spinning, donut-shaped mass of hot, vaporized rock, formed as planet-sized objects smash into each other.

New Theory Explains How the Moon Got There

Andy Fell — October 31, 2016 - 11:36am

Earth’s moon is an unusual object in our solar system, and now there’s a new theory to explain how it got where it is, which puts some twists on the current “giant impact” theory. The work is published Oct. 31 in the journal Nature.

New Type of Meteorite Linked to Ancient Asteroid Collision

Andy Fell — June 15, 2016 - 9:33am

An ancient space rock discovered in a Swedish quarry is a type of meteorite never before found on Earth and likely a remnant of a collision in the asteroid belt that sent debris raining to Earth during the Ordovician Period 470 million years ago.