Space weathering is a fundamental process that alters the surfaces of airless planetary bodies, modifying their optical, structural and chemical properties, complicating remote compositional interpretation. To support optimized spectral band selection, especially for low-cost CubeSat instruments, the influence of instrumental resolution and irradiation on peak detectability in meteorite...
Citizen science is a form of participation and collaboration that actively involves non-scientists in scientific research. It is used in a wide range of areas, including ecology, medicine, and astronomy. In recent years, citizen science has emerged as a powerful tool in astronomical research, enabling people from all over the world, regardless of their age, nationality, faith or gender, to...
Earth Observation has undergone a significant transformation, progressing from the first temporally consistent satellite archives (e.g. Copernicus) into cloud-native, AI–ready ecosystems that now underpin climate research, disaster response and policy frameworks. Planetary science, driven by renewed lunar exploration, appears to be approaching a similar paradigm shift. The central challenge is...
Rocky exoplanets, defined by their predominantly silicate and metal composition, represent a fascinating frontier in contemporary astrobiology, as their study allows us to explore conditions that could sustain life forms beyond our solar system. Complementary to this, those rocky planets that orbit in the habitable zone, which refers to the region around a star where the temperature allows for...
Asteroid 2024 BX1 was discovered just 3 hours before it entered the Earth's atmosphere, which happened on January 21, 2024. This allowed acquisition of 17 recordings from the fireball stations, on the basis of which, the strewn field was precisely calculated and the heliocentric orbit of this meteoroid was determined. The aphelion distance of this asteroid's orbit (Q=1.838 AU) lies in the...
The development of advanced technologies for lunar exploration, including rovers, drills, and sample collection systems, requires access to reliable regolith simulants. However, the availability of natural lunar regolith simulants is limited, and many existing substitutes do not fully reflect the chemical and mechanical properties of lunar soil. This study focuses on the identification and...
We present new spectroscopic measurement results for two sample dust analogues: charcoal derived from walnut wood and willow wood, respectively. These measurements were performed in our laboratory using a Cary 5000 spectrometer with an integrating sphere. This measurement setup enabled the measurement of hemispherical albedo as a function of wavelength in the range of 200 to 2500 nm. The...
We studied a megachondrule from an unclassified meteorite from the Sahara Desert, acquired in 2010. The meteorite, measures ca. 4 × 5 cm, exhibits a glossy brown desert varnish, and is cut by numerous fractures.
Petrological, mineralogical, and chemical analyses (SEM-EDS), have led to the preliminary classification of the meteorite as an unequilibrated ordinary chondrite (L3, S3, W2/W3)....
This work is an extension of the topic addressed in the article (M.I Błęcka; PSS, 2024) concerning the influence of the mineralogy of the Martian surface on the detectability of trace gases in its atmosphere. Currently, the modelling has been extended to include the presence of dust in the Martian atmosphere. The spectral range of the simulation is wide, from 3.0µm to 20µm, which requires the...
Graben and fracture systems are prominent extensional structures found on multiple planetary bodies, though their scale, morphology, and formation mechanisms vary significantly across environments. The formation of these structures is closely linked to magma dyke emplacement and lithospheric flexure in regions such as Cerberus Fossae on Mars, where InSight seismic data indicate ongoing...
Current atmospheric conditions on Mars make it impossible for life forms known on Earth to exist. Scientific research indicates that by artificially enhancing the greenhouse effect, it is possible to change the climate of Mars so that it is similar to conditions on Earth.
Research conducted using energy balance simulations at high spatial and temporal resolution indicates that for a CO$_2$...
The concept of sustainable development has long been considered a central framework for addressing environmental and economic challenges on Earth. Yet, the accelerating progress in space technologies raises an important and controversial question: does the expansion of humanity into space make sustainability obsolete? The prospect of asteroid mining eliminating the scarcity of rare earth...
Understanding magma propagation mechanisms and ascent paths towards the surface is essential in interpreting deformation features such as dyke-induced grabens and intrusive domes at the surface of rocky planetary bodies, and characterizing the underlying volcanic and igneous plumbing systems (VIPS). Forward models reveal dominant mechanisms of magma propagation below the surface. Those forward...
In our study, we compare Martian concretions and some chosen terrestrial analogs. Data of Martian concretions were obtained by the MiniTES spectrometer on the Opportunity rover. Terrestrial analogues include spherules from the Dakota and Navajo formations (Utah, USA) and the Trovants from Romania. These analogs were examined using X-ray (Microprobe and EDS) and microscopic techniques to...
Providing enough water remains a key challenge in the context of terraforming Mars. One interesting method is to redirect small water-rich bodies to hit the surface. While the prevailing focus of dynamical studies has been on Main Belt objects as the source, Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) represent a more attractive source because of their significantly higher volatile content, including water...
Numerical modelling is essential in planetary sciences to simulate, explore, and understand the magmatic processes that are otherwise inaccessible for direct study. Models often rely on uncertain parameters, mainly due to remotely sensed observations or assumptions, leading to false confidence or uncertain interpretations. Therefore, real, ground-truthed data gathered from the planetary...
In the context of studying the surface of Mars, it is imperative to undertake a thorough examination of the past and present changes to the surface. The analysis of morphological features formed by ancient water flow enables the drawing of conclusions regarding the velocity and duration of the processes that formerly shaped the planet's surface. The execution of studies of this nature...
For ten days, a post-mining heap from the coal mine in Bytom was transformed into an analog space base. This place became a hub of scientific activity as young researchers from the Scientific Club of Geophysics at the University of Warsaw embarked on an innovative project to simulate Martian conditions. The mission, named RAF-Analog Space Mission, aimed to replicate space conditions, test...
In this paper, we develop the terraforming ideas proposed in "Energy Problems of Terraforming Mars" (www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/1858.pdf). We consider terraforming enabling humans to live on the surface of Mars without space suits.
There could be a number of reasons why Earth may become uninhabitable and terraforming Mars would be necessary, for example: (1) the eruptions of a...
On Earth, intrusions of dykes in the shallow crust can induce graben formation. Graben and fracture features are also seen in the Tharsis volcanic province on Mars and are proposed to form through similar mechanisms. ‘Marsquake’ clusters were detected below Cerberus Fossae, one such graben and fracture system, by the InSight mission seismometer between 2019 and 2022. To generate these...
We developed a high-resolution surface energy balance model for Mars using a 4002-cell Goldberg polyhedron. The model accounted for radiation, heat diffusion between cells, CO$_2$ phase changes, subsurface exchange, and atmospheric heat transport. We calibrated parameters against Viking lander data and Mars GCMs, and then applied the model to assess the combined effects of elevated CO$_2$...
