Latest Impact crater Stories

Jupiter's moon Europa is one of the most intriguing places in the solar system to Astrobiologists. An icy shell overlies a deep water ocean, and tidal flexing from Jupiter's gravity may provide energy for life. But while scientists have been talking about developing a Europa mission for some time, so far NASA has not yet sent an orbiter to investigate the moon in detail.Karl Hibbitts, a research scientist at the John Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, is working on developing a...

Arizona -- University of Arizona and Japanese scientists are convinced that evidence at last settles decades-long arguments about what objects bombarded the early inner solar system in a cataclysm 3.9 billion years ago. Ancient main belt asteroids identical in size to present-day asteroids in the Mars-Jupiter belt -- not comets -- hammered the inner rocky planets in a unique catastrophe that lasted for a blink of geologic time, anywhere from 20 million to 150 million years, they report in the...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. "” The surface of comet Tempel 1, hit by a NASA space probe during a spectacular July 4 experiment, bears evidence of impact craters, suggesting that the comet has collided with asteroids or other space travelers in its journeys around the Sun.Several dozen circular features that appear to be impact craters, ranging from 40 to 400 meters across, were spotted on Tempel 1 during the Deep Impact mission, according to first results from the mission team published by Science and...

Meteor impacts are generally regarded as monstrous killers and one of the causes of mass extinctions throughout the history of life. But there is a chance the heavy bombardment of Earth by meteors during the planet's youth actually spurred early life on our planet, say Canadian geologists. A study of the Haughton Impact Crater on Devon Island, in the Canadian Arctic, has revealed some very life-friendly features at ground zero. These include hydrothermal systems, blasted rocks that are easier...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Meteor strikes may have led to the extinction of some life on Earth, but they may have also contributed to the creation of life, according to a study released on Monday. Geologists researching the crater left when the Haughton meteor slammed into what is now Canada's Arctic 23 million years ago found the impact created hydrothermal springs in the cracked rock and other conditions that would have made it easier for microbes to survive and evolve. The...

A cluster of at least three asteroids between 20 and 50 kilometres across colliding with Earth over 3.2 billion years ago caused a massive change in the structure and composition of the earth's surface, according to new research by ANU earth scientists. According to Dr Andrew Glikson and Mr John Vickers from the Department of Earth and Marine Sciences at ANU, the impact of these asteroids triggered major earthquakes, faulting, volcanic eruption and deep-seated magmatic activity and...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. "” When comet Tempel 1 collides with a NASA space probe in the early morning hours of July 4, 2005, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory expect some holiday sizzle "“ a brilliant flash and a dramatic spray of debris.This cosmic collision will create a crater exposing Tempel 1's interior. Like all comets, Tempel 1 consists of the frozen remains of material that formed the solar system. But what, precisely, is this stuff? How is it put together? Peter Schultz, crater...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When comet Tempel 1 collides with a NASA space probe in the early morning hours of July 4, 2005, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory expect some holiday sizzle "“ a brilliant flash and a dramatic spray of debris. This cosmic collision will create a crater exposing Tempel 1's interior. Like all comets, Tempel 1 consists of the frozen remains of material that formed the solar system. But what, precisely, is this stuff? How is it put together? Peter Schultz,...

How old is Titan's surface? For years, Saturn's moon Titan was thought to have mastered the cosmetic surgery of the cosmos, with barely a mark or wrinkle to betray its true age. Close-up views provided by Cassini instruments show that Titan is nearly as flawless as it seems from a distance, with only two impact craters found so far. A world with a more youthful surface may be more likely to harbor life. Astrobiology Magazine -- Thanks to a thick veil of orange smog, the surface of Titan has...

JPL -- On Earth, people tend to think of craters as giant holes in the ground like Meteor Crater in Arizona, ancient features too big to miss that mark the site of a catastrophic collision with an asteroid or comet. But craters can also be small objects, like the two discovered recently by the Opportunity rover on the plains of Meridiani on Mars. Both are less than half an inch deep and clearly visible in images taken by the rover's navigation cameras. "These are the smallest craters yet...