Solar System
The Earth's solar system, including the sun, moon, planets and satellites
May the Fourth Be With You: The Science of the Millennium Falcon
On Star Wars day, we take a look at the science behind the series' most popular spacecraft and the force fields it flies through
May 04, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
The Biggest Supermoon in Years is Coming Saturday Night
The moon's closest approach to earth will coincide with a perfectly full moon
May 02, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Voyager Probes Not Out of the Solar System Just Yet
New data show that nearly 35 years after their launches, NASA's Voyager probes are now at the outermost reaches of the solar system
April 24, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Picture of the Week: A Spectacular Solar Eruption
Earlier this week, a NASA telescope captured one of the most stunning solar flares in years
April 20, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Could The Sun Set Off The Next Big Natural Disaster?
A new study finds that a strong solar storm could disable satellites for a decade
March 08, 2012 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Honeymoon on the Moon
Newlyweds who didn't want to visit the cliched destination of the time, Niagara Falls, dreamt of one day spending their first days as a married couple on the moon
February 15, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
An Astronomer’s Solution to Global Warming
The technology developed for telescopes, it turns out, can harness solar power
February 03, 2012 |
By Alaina G. Levine
Hunting Dinosaurs on Venus
Why bother with cloning and time travel, when your dream safari awaits on a nearby planet?
February 01, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Sunday Funnies Blast Off Into the Space Age
When Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus met President Kennedy in 1962, JFK told him, "The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip."
January 27, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Space Garbage: The Dark Cloud Above
A mass of debris from satellites and space missions is orbiting our planet—and it may be growing all the time
January 26, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
This Week’s Breathtaking Aurora Borealis
Recent solar storms have triggered northern lights of unprecedented color and intensity
January 25, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
A Comet’s Death Caught on Camera
Comets dive into the sun frequently, but previous ones had been too small and dim to be seen against the glaring backdrop
January 20, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
The Tallest Mountains in the Solar System
Mount Everest is a just a peewee when compared with such giants as Olympus Mons on Mars
January 09, 2012 |
By Sarah Zielinski
That Moon On Your Christmas Card
An astronomer finds that depictions of the Moon on Christmas cards, wrapping paper and books is often wrong
December 22, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Comet’s Close Call
Scientists predicted that Comet Lovejoy would collide with the Sun
December 16, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
How to Measure the Moon this Weekend
The people of Byzantium viewed a lunar eclipse as a bad omen, but today it's just another time to do science
December 08, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Curious About Curiosity? What to Read on the Mars Science Laboratory
The traveling science laboratory launched successfully on Saturday and is scheduled to touch down on the red planet in August 2012
November 28, 2011 |
By Brian Wolly
Don Quijote May Tilt at an Asteroid
Deflection could be our best bet if an asteroid is headed towards Earth
August 10, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
What To Name Pluto’s New Moon
Disney characters aside, what would you choose to join this dark and dreary mythological circle? Styx, Erberus, Cerberus, Hypnos?
July 26, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Quirkiest Space Shuttle Science
As the space shuttle program ends, a salute to some of its most surprising studies
July 08, 2011 |
By Erin Wayman
