Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

A U of A-led study reveals a surprising way planetary cores formed. The findings could reshape how scientists understand the early evolution of rocky planets like Mars.

Billions of years ago, two icy worlds collided. Rather than destroying each other in a cosmic catastrophe, they spun together like a celestial snowman, finally separating but remaining forever linked in orbit. This is how Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, originated, a U of A study finds.

U of A scientists will participate in many aspects of NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which will orbit Jupiter and make 49 flybys of its moon Europa to study the moon's icy shell and help researchers better understand what lies beneath.

Every second, more than 3,000 stars are born in the visible universe. Many are surrounded by protoplanetary disks – swirling "pancakes" of hot gas and dust, from which planets form. U of A researchers have obtain detailed insights into the forces that shape protoplanetary disks.

U of A Regents Professor Dante Lauretta says he is "amazed by the discoveries we've made" since the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered an asteroid sample to Earth last year.

OSIRIS-REx sample scientists took a deep dive into the rocks and dust returned from asteroid Bennu. They found that the sample is rich in carbon, nitrogen and organic compounds – essential components for life as we know it.

The Snow4Flow mission, led by professor Jack Holt, will measure glaciers' ice and snow thickness and help scientists better predict how glacial melting contributes to sea level change.

A team of astronomers, including UArizona scientists, used the telescope to study the disk of gas and dust around a young, low-mass star.

Near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3, also known as Kamo'oalewa, was likely blasted from the Giordano Bruno crater on the moon's far side and has been hurtling through space for several million years, according to a study published in Nature Astronomy.