Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Planetary science is the study of the celestial bodies that orbit stars, with a particular focus on our own solar system. This includes studying the formation and evolution of planets, the moons and rings that orbit them, and other smaller bodies such as asteroids and comets.
There are no good models for the chemical evolution of the Earth’s surface over the planet’s lifetime, because models typically overlook the progressive build-up of carbonate rocks in the crust. A new model that includes this accumulation enables the reconstruction of major oxygen and temperature trends throughout Earth’s history.
The Moon’s primordial solidification is believed to have produced a layer of dense ilmenite cumulates beneath the crust. Remnants of this layer have now been detected under the lunar nearside.
Pollution by per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) is widespread in global water resources and likely to be underestimated, according to global analysis of available PFAS data.
The speed and route by which Homo sapiens colonised Sahul is an ongoing topic of research. Here, the authors model the physical environment as it changes through time in combination with Lévy walk foraging patterns to suggest a wave of dispersal following coastlines and rivers.
Although both are rocky planets in the habitable zone, Venus and Earth followed different climate evolutionary paths. This Perspective argues for the importance of Venus for understanding planetary habitability and terrestrial planet evolution.
In situ observations reveal explosive mass ejections due to magnetic reconnection in the ionosphere of Mars, with a density cavity as direct evidence. Reconnection between strong open crustal fields can rapidly eject a large amount of mass from Mars.
The island nation is expanding its territory by dredging up sediment from the ocean floor. But scientists, former government officials and activists say such reclamation can harm marine ecosystems and make the country more vulnerable to rising seas.
As the eighth anniversary of Nature Astronomy’s opening to submissions nears, we say goodbye to our inaugural Chief Editor, May Chiao, and welcome her successor, Paul Woods, to the helm.