WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 7
MARTIAN
STRING OF
CRATERS
ESA captures a
trio of impact
craters.
Unlike Earth, the surface of
Mars is rife with large, obvi-
ous impact craters. Estimates
point to at least a quarter
of a million such craters on
the Red Planet. And with no
plate tectonics, imperfections
on Mars stick around for a
lot longer than they do here
on Earth.
This orderly collection of
craters sits in Mars’ Lunae
Planum, known for its rough
terrain. Large lava deposits
fill the region, likely spewed
from the nearby Tharsis
Montes volcanic region. The
youngest volcanoes located
there were last active as
recently as a few million
years ago. Some research
even suggests the area may
just be dormant for now
and could erupt again in the
future. The triplet of craters
in this picture, taken by the
Colour and Stereo Surface
Imaging System camera on
the European Space Agency
and Roscosmos’ ExoMars
Trace Gas Orbiter, even bear
evidence of the serial lava
f lows on their inner rims.
— CAITLYN BUONGIORNOSTANDING CLEAR
Research suggests
that red dwarfs’ most
hazardous flares erupt
mostly from their poles.
This would mean the
flares miss exoplanets
that orbit in the stars’
equatorial planes,
improving those
planets’ prospects for
hosting life.STUCK IN PLACE
An uncrewed
demonstration flight
of Boeing’s Starliner
spacecraft was
postponed after some
of the craft’s propellant
valves became stuck
Aug. 3. The capsule
was pulled from the
launch pad Aug. 13 for
further investigation.HER WATCH HAS
ENDED
The preeminent comet-
and asteroid-hunter
Carolyn Shoemaker
died Aug. 13 at age- Among her finds
was Comet D/
F2 (Shoemaker-Levy
9), which famously
smashed into Jupiter
in 1994.
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