World Water Day is March 22, but at the U of A – ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in water resources by ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking – water is at the center of rigorous research year-round.
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.
How much time do planets have to form from a swirling disk of gas and dust around a star? A new University of Arizona-led study gives scientists a better idea of how our own solar system came to be.
New findings by UArizona researchers offer important insights into the evolution of the lunar interior, and potentially for planets such as Earth and Mars.
UArizona scientists mapped the moon for the Apollo missions. Now, as NASA astronauts prepare to return to the moon, two of the three instruments they'll bring have UArizona ties. The instruments will allow them to map moonquakes and the moon's subsurface.