Planets

NASA's Perseverance rover takes a selfie on September 10, 2021.

Listen to the Sound of a Dust Devil Swirling Around on Mars

For the first time, scientists have recorded the noise of a Martian dust storm using a microphone on NASA's Perseverance rover

The “Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery” is now open to visitors at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Jury-Rigged Experiment that Led to the Discovery of Unknown Worlds

See the Kepler technology demonstrator at the National Air and Space Museum, along with a host of technologies that brought success to space exploration

James Webb's new image of L1527

James Webb Captures a Protostar in a Fiery Hourglass

The very young star is a window into our own solar system's past

HAARP's antennas

Why Scientists Are Sending Radio Signals to the Moon and Jupiter

Researchers conducted wide-ranging experiments at Alaska's HAARP facility, known for atmospheric research and conspiracy theories

An illustration of NASA's Perseverance rover approaching Mars

‘Conan the Bacterium’ Has What It Takes to Survive on Mars

After experiments here on Earth, researchers say some hardy microbes could endure hundreds of millions of years on the Red Planet

The exoplanet TOI-3757 b has the same average density as a marshmallow.

Puffy, Marshmallow-Like Planet Could Float in a Bathtub

Scientists found the new exoplanet located in the Auriga constellation 580 light-years away

Asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by the DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact. 

NASA Successfully Altered an Asteroid’s Orbit

The agency's DART mission exceeded expectations, marking the first time humans have changed the trajectory of a celestial body

An image of Neptune captured by the Webb telescope's Near-Infrared Camera. 

Webb Telescope's Images of Neptune Showcase Its Rings and Moons

They’re the clearest pictures of the distant planet's rings in over three decades

James Webb Space Telescope's first images of Mars, captured by its Near-Infrared Camera (right), and a reference map (left)

James Webb Captures Its First Images of Mars

With some adjustments, the highly sensitive telescope could successfully observe the bright Red Planet

A photo of Saturn taken by NASA's Voyager 1 space probe from a distance of 34 million kilometers in 1980. 

What Caused Saturn’s Rings and Tilt? Perhaps the Destruction of a Moon

Scientists propose that about 160 million years ago, the moon was torn apart, creating the planet’s iconic rings

These telesopes in the Atacama Desert in Chile were used to discover the new planet. The project also has telescopes on Tenerife, an island west of Morocco. 

Scientists Discover a Planet With the Potential to Support Life

It orbits a small, cold star about 100 light-years from Earth

James Webb Space Telescope's mosaic image of the Tarantula Nebula

James Webb Space Telescope Snaps Spectacular New Photos of the Tarantula Nebula

The stellar nursery, located 161,000 light-years away, offers insights into a period of intense star formation in the early universe

An artist's rendition of the exoplanet, called WASP-39b

Webb Telescope Detects Carbon Dioxide on a Far-Away Planet

Finding this greenhouse gas on other worlds could give scientists clues in the search for extraterrestrial life

James Webb Space Telescope composite image of Jupiter 

See the James Webb Space Telescope’s Stunning New Images of Jupiter

Its Near-Infrared Camera captured auroras, moons and the Great Red Spot

Uranus (left) and Neptune (right)

Why Neptune Appears Bluer Than Its Cousin Uranus

Though the solar system’s two outermost planets are very similar, their color is a puzzling difference

InSight's final selfie, taken in April 2022.

Dusty InSight Mars Lander Takes Its Final Selfie

The Red Planet probe will likely stop operating sometime later this year

Pluto's icy volcanic region, with possible past eruptions marked in blue.

Pluto's Hidden Ice Volcanoes Hint at the Possibility of Life

The discovery suggests the dwarf planet may be harboring a subsurface liquid ocean

Researchers turned to Mercury for the possibility of impact-born diamonds because previous surveys of the planet and molten rock found that the surface may have fragments of graphite, a carbon-rich mineral.

Mercury's Cratered Crust May Hold Glittering Gemstones

Fragments of a graphite shell from the planet's past and a series of violent meteorite impacts may have combined to form sparkling diamonds

An illustration of the six-wheeled rover, which has a drill and onboard instruments to sample and analyze the Martian surface. 

Europe's Mars Rover Unlikely to Launch in 2022 Due to Russian Invasion

The robot designed to search for traces of life on the Red Planet was originally scheduled to ride a Russian rocket into to space this fall

The ice giants appear blue because of the methane in their atmospheres. Methane reflects blue light and absorbs red light. Pictured: Uranus on the left and Neptune on the right.

Why Twin-Like Ice Giants Uranus and Neptune Are Different Shades of Blue

A whiteish layer of haze forms where methane reacts with sunlight

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