Neeraja Chinchalkar
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neerajac.bsky.social
Neeraja Chinchalkar
@neerajac.bsky.social
1.6K followers 960 following 26 posts
🌌🔭
Western University grad 🇨🇦
Auburn University grad

🌕🚀. Planetary Geologist💫🪐🌎. Zircons. Impact Craters☄️🌠 #womaninSTEM
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Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
uahirise.bsky.social
A Crater and Its Gullies

The objective of this observation is to examine gullies in a small crater. Images like this will help increase our inventory and understanding of Martian gullies so that perhaps better models can be constructed.

uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_07...
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Enhanced color cutout shows a closeup of a crater wall with two prominent and well-defined gullies. The gullies extend far down the wall from the rim of the crater, ending in sedimentary fans. The scene is less than 1 km, under 1 mile, across. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona) Black and white image shows a fuller view of the impact crater where three gullies are visible, extending from the rim of the crater close to the floor, ending in sedimentary fans. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
February 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
stellerarts.com
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! You can try to silence or erase us, but we aren’t going anywhere. We will keep fighting and being awesome 😤
February 11, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
joseptrigo.bsky.social
New #Martian achondrite found in #Arizona 🤩👇👌
#PlanetSci
minwadhwa.bsky.social Meenakshi Wadhwa @minwadhwa.bsky.social · Feb 8
Fragments of a new Mars meteorite that’s a likely fall from April (but found in Sept) 2024 in Arizona! The biggest mass (second pic) is 800 grams. WOW!! #TucsonGemMineralShow
February 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
Bennu Asteroid contains building blocks of life, say
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Bennu asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists
Bennu contains minerals and thousands of organic molecules, including the chemical components that make up DNA.
www.bbc.com
January 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
nickattree.bsky.social
Another paper from our @issibern.ch team on #comet ☄️ activity is out, this one led by Olivier Groussin from Marseille, and focusing on 67P's thermal environment 🔥❄️.
Summary on our group webpage here
scitechss.iaa.es/how-hot-is-6...
#PlanetaryScience
How hot is 67P? – SCITECHSS Group
scitechss.iaa.es
January 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
steve-elardo.com
#PlanetaryScience
#ToldYouSo
December 18, 2024 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
hype.aero
The Canadian Space Agency has launched a competition to name its first rover, set to explore the moon's south polar region. The mission aims to search for water sources, marking a significant step in Canada's lunar exploration efforts. - More on hype.aero
Canada wants your help to name its 1st moon rover
Canada will soon roll a rover onto the moon, and you can help name the pioneering machine.
www.space.com
November 21, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
uahirise.bsky.social
Clays in Ejecta

The science rationale for this request from HiWish is to image an area of mineralogic interest identified by CRISM (also onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) that lacks HiRISE coverage.

uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_07...
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA
Enhanced color image shows exposed bedrock that has mineral diversity from other areas of the terrain. The ground if flat and there are very few dunes here. There are also several small rocky mounds. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
December 20, 2024 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
mpoessel.de
After a month of bad weather, yesterday was a rare hour or so of partially clear sky, so I made the first tile for a Seestar S50 mosaic for the Rosette Nebula (Caldwell 49). This is 20 minutes' worth (before the clouds rushed in again). 1/ 🧪🔭
The lower right part of what looks like a ring made of reddish hydrogen with a hole in the middle.
December 20, 2024 at 4:27 PM
neerajac.bsky.social
New timeline for Artemis 👇🏻

www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/s...

#PlanetaryScience
NASA once again delays astronaut moon landing, pushing to 2027 | CNN
The Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon this decade amid a renewed international push for lunar exploration, is facing more delays.
www.cnn.com
December 5, 2024 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
spacemarschall.net
One of my favourite #planetaryScience conferences, which I only discovered in 2023, is the Gordon Conference on "Origins of Solar Systems." It brings together observers, theorists, cosmochemists, planetologists, and astronomers. The next one is in 2025! 🧪

Registration: www.grc.org/origins-of-s...
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captured this image of the iconic Pillars of Creation, a small region filled with newly formed stars within the vast Eagle Nebula about 6,500 light-years away. Photograph by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/origins-of-the-universe
December 4, 2024 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
drkeithsmith.bsky.social
After much prodding, @science.org is now on Bluesky! Follow that account if you're interested in the latest news, opinion pieces and research papers, across all fields of science. 🧪

I'll continue posting Science content that's specifically relevant to #astronomy or #planetaryscience here. 🔭
December 3, 2024 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
planettreky.bsky.social
Multiple Impact Sources for Light Plains Around the Lunar South Pole
#PlanetaryScience

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Multiple Impact Sources for Light Plains Around the Lunar South Pole
Forty-one light plain deposits in the lunar southern polar region are investigated for origin and absolute model age determination Schrödinger basin materials date to ∼3.8 Ga, Orientale materials...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 2, 2024 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
spacemarschall.net
Not all craters are created equal! The S-IVB (the 3rd stage of the Saturn V) of the Apollo 13 mission impacted the surface of the Moon and made the crater below. The stage in the crater can still be seen.

#planetaryScience #SciComm🧪⚛️

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University/R. Marschall
Image of the surface of the moon showing many craters. In the top left there is a rectangle with two zoom in boxes with successive zoom levels to one crater that has an elongated shape. In the center of that crater one can see the outlines of a rocket stage. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University/R. Marschall Source: https://www.lroc.asu.edu/featured_sites/18/site_images/233
December 1, 2024 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
jortsthecat.bsky.social
I was just LOOKING
an orange cat is looking at you from around the corner. a christmas tree is just behind him, totally undisturbed
November 30, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
transmartian.bsky.social
Just in time for this Mars year's twilight cloud season, here's a new paper led by Mark Lemmon about cloud iridescence we've seen at Gale. If you read none of it, at least admire the pretty pictures.
#planetaryscience
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Iridescence Reveals the Formation and Growth of Ice Aerosols in Martian Noctilucent Clouds
Curiosity rover images reveal a previously unknown, visually spectacular cloud season in the Martian tropics during early southern autumn Iridescence in the noctilucent clouds requires a narrow p...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 29, 2024 at 12:27 PM
neerajac.bsky.social
How long does it take to cook a #turkey on the #Moon? Or in other places in #space? USGS has some answers!

www.usgs.gov/centers/astr...

#PlanetaryScience #Astronomy #Thanksgiving
How long does it take to cook a turkey in space? | U.S. Geological Survey
As we get together this holiday season and prepare our turkey feasts, we’ve been pondering life on other planets and moons. What would it be like to cook a turkey on Venus or Jupiter’s moon, Io? We as...
www.usgs.gov
November 29, 2024 at 3:45 AM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
fcain.universetoday.com
Venus is almost a twin of Earth, yet it has a crushing, boiling atmosphere at the surface and shows little active volcanism. Since Venus is so brutal, a researcher has proposed sending an orbiter/balloon/lander that could work together to track seismic signals rumbling under the planet's surface.
Three Ways to Track Venusquakes, from Balloons to Satellites - Eos
The planet’s harsh conditions make studying seismicity challenging, but it is likely possible.
eos.org
November 26, 2024 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
gabeeggers.bsky.social
Never have I been more excited to read a student's term paper.
A screenshot of a student's term paper entitled "Gnawing Away at the Landscape: Beavers as Geomorphic Agents." The student's name is censored. Included also is a cover image of a young (yearling) brown beaver carrying a branch in its mouth and paw.
November 26, 2024 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
spacemarschall.net
I love this picture from the surface of #Mars. It's amazing, especially because there is a small helicopter in this frame! Can you find Ingenuity in this image taken by the Perseverance rover on April 14, 2023?

#planetaryScience #spaceExploration #SciComm 🧪🔭🚀🛰️
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
Image from the surface of Mars. In the foreground, a boulder field leads up to a small hill. In the far background, there is a slope with finer material.
November 25, 2024 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
spacemarschall.net
Extraterrestrial material falls onto Earth often, but it's only recently that we find some of these rocks early enough to observe them before they impact Earth. This was the case for "2022 WJ1" shown in the image.

#planetaryScience 🔭🧪
Image Credit: Dereck Bowen, Canada, Nov 19, 2022 3:26am
A view of the sky at night shows a bright green streak going from the top centre to the bottom centre. It's a meteoroid falling onto Earth.
November 25, 2024 at 8:31 AM
neerajac.bsky.social
Planned for a 2028 launch, ISRO's Chandrayaan-4 will aim to return ~3 kg of samples from the #lunar South Pole

Can't wait to see what this mission will unfold

#PlanetaryScience #Astronomy #Space

www.space.com/the-universe...
India targets 2028 for Chandrayaan-4 sample-return mission to moon's south pole
"All of us are excited to design and develop this complex mission and make it happen by 2028."
www.space.com
November 24, 2024 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Neeraja Chinchalkar
sciencesocks.bsky.social
New #JWST image just dropped 🔭🐡🧪
Pillars of creation by JWST but with googly eyes
November 23, 2024 at 8:05 PM
neerajac.bsky.social
Catch this ESA workshop through their livestream 👉🏻 hreworkshop-poland2024.eu/live-stream/

#PlanetaryScience #Astronomy #Cosmology #Space #Exploration
November 24, 2024 at 2:47 PM