Planetary Science Institute
psi.edu
A private nonprofit dedicated to studying the origin, characteristics, and evolution of planetary systems and planets, including the Earth.
- Happy Friday! 🪐 🐾 This week's #PlanetaryPet is Abby, Senior Communications Specialist Dianne Janis's bossy border collie who thinks that anytime is naptime.
- #ClarkVision: The Maroon Bells, two peaks in Colorado's Elk Mountains, are always stunning, but even moreso with the Milky Way draping behind it. This natural light image was captured by PSI Senior Scientist Roger Clark over ten years ago.
- Heads up for later this month! buff.ly/w6KvH0N
- #JunoCam: Missing some color this winter? This is an artistic, false color image of Jupiter's northern circumpolar cyclones processed by a space enthusiast like you! 🌸🌼🪻🪸🪼⭐️ Interested in processing your own JunoCam images? Visit buff.ly/7Lw0EjF 📸: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Navaneeth Krishnan S
- PSI's David Grinspoon on the astrobiological potential of Venus:
- When did you know that you wanted to pursue science as a career? One of my earliest memories at maybe 3 years old is of seeing a bright fireball followed by a sonic boom on a summer night. I was holding my mother's skirt as she talked to a neighbor over our back fence...
- NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used LED lights on the end of its robotic arm to create this rare nighttime view of the Red Planet’s surface. The LED lights are part of MAHLI, a camera on the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm led by PSI's Aileen Yingst. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS buff.ly/hGfrY20
- #SciArt: PSI's Sam Courville photographed this volcanic eruption of Sundhnukur, near the capital city of Iceland. “The volcanic area had just become active again after not having erupted for the past ~800 years,” he said. “I traveled there specifically to see the volcano...
- We are so proud of Adelina! 👏👏👏 Serendipitously, we also celebrated her taking over as HR Director today! Help us congratulate her! buff.ly/3e7Kd5f
- #JunoCam: Jovian pearls on parade. Want to process your own JunoCam images? buff.ly/yIef2YU 📸: NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Tanya Oleksuik
- LIVE: PSI's David Grinspoon talks about the astrobiological potenial of Venus Listen NOW: buff.ly/nXHL5Nd 🔭 🧪
- Interested in learning more about the potential for life on Venus?? Join PSI's David Grinspoon for a virtual talk, hosted by the European Astrobiology Institute, tomorrow at 8am MST (16:00 CET). 🔭 🧪 Link: buff.ly/nXHL5Nd
- "I often join research excursions to Yellowstone National Park. I am fascinated by the hydrothermal features within the park. The chemical diversity of the features and the microbial life that they support is astonishing." 🔭 🧪 More Q&A: buff.ly/h6zcNQP
- TONIGHT (Jan. 23): The Moon and Saturn will be at conjunction, meaning they will appear near each other in the night sky. So head outside around 7pm and look toward the western horizon. Saturn will appear as a bright spot just under a crescent Moon. 🌌 🌙 🪐 🌄 📸: NASA/JPL-Caltech
- Happy Friday! 🪐 🐾 PSI Systems Administrator Marc Mensing's cats share space with little Lucy, a beagle mix, who likes napping and exploring the outdoors.
- Courville completed his doctoral degree in 2025 at Arizona State University, where he is currently a postdoctoral researcher on NASA’s Psyche Mission. Concurrently, he has been a PSI research associate since 2019 and is being promoted to associate research scientist. Full story: buff.ly/vxjD0am
- #JunoCam: A collage of Jupiter images (processed with exaggerated color and contrast) taken by the Juno spacecraft as it approached then departed the gas giant. Interested in processing your own images? buff.ly/yyrESGe 📸: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Brian Swift
- Is there one award that is particularly meaningful to you? "Most people don't know that there have been national weather forecasting competitions in various forms for decades. Usually there are about 1,000 participants per year nationwide. I've won 5 trophies at that."
- PSI's Kirby Runyon spoke with the hosts of What The If podcast about his citizen science project to map ancient impact melt flows on the Moon, which he co-leads with PSI's Pamela Gay. Listen here! buff.ly/mFe08of
- #SciArt: PIO Mikayla Kelley is always surrounded by amazing images of our Solar System, so it’s no surprise that she is inspired to create art as one of her creative outlets. This is an acrylic-on-canvas painting of a planetary water droplet falling into the pool of the universe.
- PSI in the News: "There may be a Planet 9 out there, but I doubt it’ll be one of the predicted versions of the planet," says Kat Volk of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona. buff.ly/riODKP9
- These maps can be used to better understand the geophysics of the Moon and prepare the way for future exploration, as we identify safe places to land and scientifically interesting places to explore. Full story: buff.ly/UrK1QFL
- #JunoCam: The Juno spacecraft captures myriad images from Jupiter and its moons as it orbits the gas giant, but it is participatory scientists like you who bring the images to life. This artistic collage of Jupiter and its moon Europa was processed and assembled by Jackie Branc.
- "I enjoy gardening and love cooking what I grow. I play tennis, bike, and love hiking in the mountains. And I will always love getting far out into nature, including truly dark skies." Get our stories & Q&As delivered weekly when you subscribe: buff.ly/tdys2MC
- PSI Senior Scientist Vicki Hansen spoke with Alie Ward of the Ologies podcast about Venus! Listen here! buff.ly/Qsxvqic
- BONUS #JunoCam: What's the bright star in the sky? That's Jupiter! Jupiter is at opposition TOMORROW, Jan. 10., which means that Earth will be in line between Jupiter and the Sun. 📸: Credit: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Thomas Thomopoulos
- #ClarkVision: Comet Lemmon photographed by PSI's Roger Clark. This natural color image was obtained October 21, 2025 in the Colorado Rocky Mountains at 11,170 feet elevation, above much atmospheric absorption and light pollution from the Denver metro area.
- #JunoCam: Two views of Jovian polar-region cyclones seen during perijoves (Juno close approaches) 53 & 67, illustrating how rapidly cloud-top patterns can reorganize between observations. 📸: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Thomas Thomopoulos
- PSI in the News: buff.ly/YHd9fnU
- "My hobbies include mountain biking, reading science fiction/fantasy, camping/hiking. I love anime, especially Studio Ghibli & Cowboy Bebop. I have continued to embrace my nerdiness since I did my best to learn & speak High Elvish (Tolkien) while in high school.”
- #JunoCam: On this last day of the year, we're posting a slightly different image than usual. Our home! This is an approximately true color/contrast image obtained during Juno's flyby of the Earth on Oct. 9, 2013. 🧪 🔭
- To celebrate 2025, we wanted to share just a small sample of PSI’s most exciting science research and prestigious honors of 2025! Read and subscribe: buff.ly/xLzM67I Thanks for your continued support and interest. We look forward to an even more amazing 2026! Happy New Year!
- PSI in the news:
- Time is running out to make your tax-deductible gift. To donate, please visit: buff.ly/svXUKaE Thank you for your continued support! 🪐 🌃 🌵
- Happy Friday! 🪐 🐾 This week's #Planetary Pet is Chance, and he needs help finding a home! If you, or anyone you know, might have a space in your heart and home for this guy, please send an email with the subject line “Chance” to fischer@psi.edu.
- #JunoCam: Zoom out and zoom in! These painterly views of Jupiter were processed by participatory scientist Kevin M. Gill. Interested in processing your own JunoCam images? Visit: buff.ly/9YvnJFy 📸: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
- Congratulations to PSI Trustee Dan Dumbacher, who has recently been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)! buff.ly/OWqZSJY
