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Tech News
Astronomers led by Pablo Santos-Sanz used the James Webb Space Telescope to re-observe a stellar occultation by Chariklo, a small icy body about 250 kilometers wide orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. Compared to the rings first detected in 2013, one of Chariklo's two narrow rings has become denser while the other has nearly disappeared, and the cause remains unclear.
Researchers analyzing Mercury's surface features have found that the planet has been shrinking at a faster rate than earlier models suggested, as its interior cools and contracts. The findings come from renewed analysis of geological formations like fault scarps that record the planet's contraction over billions of years.
Data from the Voyager, Galileo and Cassini missions, combined with modeling and observations from Hubble and Webb, has revealed that at least six moons and dwarf planets in the outer solar system—including Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Mimas and Callisto—harbor liquid water oceans beneath their icy surfaces. Even Pluto is now considered a candidate ocean world, suggesting many undiscovered Kuiper Belt objects could conceal similar hidden seas.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, currently nearing the outer boundary of the solar system as it heads toward interstellar space, risks losing two of its scientific instruments at this critical juncture. The timing is significant because the probe is approaching a region where continuous data collection is essential for understanding the transition beyond the sun's influence.