Geyser-like plumes spray out of the south polar region of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, into space. Credit: ESA / Science Office illustration A moon of Saturn has a surprising variety of carbon-based ...

For nearly two decades Enceladus, a 500-kilometer-wide moon of Saturn, has been a top target in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. In 2005, shortly after arriving in orbit around the ringed planet, ...

The researchers recreated Moon-like conditions in the lab by hitting rocks with oxygen and hydrogen particles to see how the Moon's surface would have changed over time.

A fresh look at data collected by NASA's Cassini probe nearly two decades ago has revealed new, complex organic molecules on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus – pointing to tantalizing chemistry taking ...

The Moon is rusting — and it’s Earth’s fault. Scientists have found that oxygen particles blown from Earth to the Moon can turn lunar minerals into haematite, also known as rust. The discovery adds to ...

Anthony Wood joined Space.com in April 2025 after contributing articles to outlets including IGN, New Atlas and Gizmodo. He has a passion for the night sky, science, Hideo Kojima, and human space ...

A recent study suggests oxygen leaking from Earth's atmosphere may be behind the presence of hematite, a type of rust, near the Moon's poles.

The Moon has always been a plain, grayscale, landscape. Its plains and craters offer some variety, but the lunar surface blends into a uniform dullness.

Lunar minerals generate the rust mineral hematite when bombarded with high-energy oxygen particles, experiments show.

The moon is sometimes called "two-faced" because the surface of its side perpetually facing away from Earth looks so different than its side always facing our planet. And the differences run deeper ...

The shocking discovery of hematite on the Moon was made a few years ago. Hematite forms from the oxidation of iron, a process more commonly known as rusting. This mineral is found widely on Earth, but ...

Like pipes, statues and nails, the moon can rust. Such rusting has occurred despite a seeming lack of necessary components — but all signs of blame point to the Earth. A new study posits that the ...