https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/solar-system/RSS feed for Solar SystemenWed, 15 Jul 2026 19:40:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-noticed-a-mysterious-spot-appearing-in-telescope-images-it-turned-out-to-be-the-faintest-exoplanet-ever-imaged-from-earth-180989133/The gas giant, called Beta Pictoris d, had been hiding in plain sight for more than a decade, until two independent teams verified its existenceWed, 15 Jul 2026 19:40:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-noticed-a-mysterious-spot-appearing-in-telescope-images-it-turned-out-to-be-the-faintest-exoplanet-ever-imaged-from-earth-180989133/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mars-rover-spots-complex-carbon-on-the-red-planet-marking-yet-another-detection-of-a-building-block-of-life-180989043/Along with other recent discoveries, the new finding from Perseverance boosts the case that Mars once hosted conditions that could support living things—but it isn’t a definitive sign of ancient organismsTue, 30 Jun 2026 13:38:51 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mars-rover-spots-complex-carbon-on-the-red-planet-marking-yet-another-detection-of-a-building-block-of-life-180989043/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-rare-comet-made-history-as-the-third-known-interstellar-object-to-fly-through-our-solar-system-studies-are-now-revealing-the-mysterious-the-mysterious-conditions-in-which-it-formed-180989037/In the latest research, telescope observations of 3I/ATLAS examine its chemical structure and suggest that it took shape in a peripheral region of a relatively calm planetary systemMon, 29 Jun 2026 16:02:32 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-rare-comet-made-history-as-the-third-known-interstellar-object-to-fly-through-our-solar-system-studies-are-now-revealing-the-mysterious-the-mysterious-conditions-in-which-it-formed-180989037/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-most-detailed-photo-of-the-milky-ways-heart-ever-taken-in-visible-light-which-will-help-astronomers-hunt-for-exoplanets-180989027/The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope was built to study dark matter and dark energy, but for one day last year, it captured the densely packed stars brightening the center of our galaxyFri, 26 Jun 2026 21:09:42 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-most-detailed-photo-of-the-milky-ways-heart-ever-taken-in-visible-light-which-will-help-astronomers-hunt-for-exoplanets-180989027/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-might-be-the-oldest-object-ever-seen-in-our-solar-system-a-study-suggests-180989007/Based on the composition of gases spewed by the icy space rock, researchers estimate that our guest might be up to 12 billion years old—about three times the age of the solar systemWed, 24 Jun 2026 19:55:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-might-be-the-oldest-object-ever-seen-in-our-solar-system-a-study-suggests-180989007/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/see-a-diamond-planet-an-exploding-star-and-a-black-hole-up-close-in-a-new-immersive-virtual-reality-experience-180988945/Informed by science from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and astronomers worldwide, this “documentary that you can walk through” visualizes the cosmos in a 3D introduction to the universeFri, 12 Jun 2026 16:19:35 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/see-a-diamond-planet-an-exploding-star-and-a-black-hole-up-close-in-a-new-immersive-virtual-reality-experience-180988945/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-meteorite-found-in-the-sahara-desert-offers-evidence-of-a-lost-protoplanet-180988932/Chemical signatures indicate the meteorite came from an early planet that met an untimely end during the formation of our solar systemThu, 11 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-meteorite-found-in-the-sahara-desert-offers-evidence-of-a-lost-protoplanet-180988932/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-smaller-than-usual-blue-moon-will-end-the-month-with-a-lunar-spectacle-heres-what-to-know-about-the-full-micromoon-180988854/The blue moon will be the second of two full moons in the same month, a coincidence that only takes place about every two and a half years. It will also appear to be slightly smaller and dimmer than the average full moonThu, 28 May 2026 19:40:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-smaller-than-usual-blue-moon-will-end-the-month-with-a-lunar-spectacle-heres-what-to-know-about-the-full-micromoon-180988854/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-nasas-stunning-new-images-of-mars-captured-during-an-asteroid-bound-spacecrafts-strategic-flyby-180988788/The Psyche mission, on its way to study an asteroid of the same name, approached within 2,864 miles of the red planet on May 15Fri, 22 May 2026 20:14:29 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-nasas-stunning-new-images-of-mars-captured-during-an-asteroid-bound-spacecrafts-strategic-flyby-180988788/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neptunes-moon-nereid-might-be-the-sole-intact-survivor-of-an-ancient-lunar-collision-180988785/A study suggests that the ice giant's largest moon, Triton, made a dramatic entrance to the Neptunian system long ago, kicking Nereid outward and destroying the planet's other original lunar companionsThu, 21 May 2026 20:16:29 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neptunes-moon-nereid-might-be-the-sole-intact-survivor-of-an-ancient-lunar-collision-180988785/