Planets
Mars Has an Unexpected Influence on Earth's Oceans and Climate, Repeating Every 2.4 Million Years, Study Finds
The gravitational interactions between Mars and Earth as they orbit the sun may have periodically promoted a warmer climate and changes in ocean circulation on our home planet
The Decimal Point Is 150 Years Older Than Previously Thought, Medieval Manuscript Reveals
A Venetian merchant used the mathematical symbol while calculating the positions of planets between 1441 and 1450
The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Venus
Our sister planet’s cloudy exterior gave it an aura of mystery—until humanity developed the technology to probe past the veil
An Icy Moon of Saturn May Be Hiding a Vast Ocean Under Its Crust, Surprising Astronomers
Researchers suggest a global ocean lies 15 miles beneath the surface of Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas—a shocking discovery that could redefine what a habitable world looks like
This Planned NASA Telescope May Help Us Identify Worlds Like Our Own
The innovative Habitable Worlds Observatory will offer ways to detect signs of life on other planets
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Has Taken Its Final Flight
Originally designed for up to five flights on Mars, Ingenuity performed 72 over three years, until one of its rotor blades was damaged during landing on January 18
This Distant Exoplanet Has a 350,000-Mile-Long Tail, Like a Comet
A stream of particles flung from the planet's star is causing its atmosphere to boil away and lose 200,000 tons of mass per second
What Are These Mysterious Dark 'Spokes' on Saturn's Rings?
A Hubble image highlights the seasonal features, which scientists think could be caused by interactions between the planet's magnetic field and solar wind
See the James Webb Telescope's Stunning New Image of Uranus With Its Rings and Moons Clearer Than Ever
The gleaming ice giant could soon become a top priority for exploration
Life-Sparking Gas Strengthens Evidence That Enceladus, a Moon of Saturn, Could Be Habitable
Evidence of hydrogen cyanide in data from the Cassini spacecraft adds to a growing list of molecules that could, in theory, support life on the icy moon
Astronomers Discover Rare Solar System Where Planets Orbit in Mathematical Harmony
The "resonant" planets could provide insight about how such systems form and evolve—and why our own solar system is not synced up
Saturn's Rings Will Temporarily Disappear From View in 2025
From Earth’s perspective, we’ll be looking at the gas giant’s rings edge-on, making them nearly impossible to see
How to See NASA's Bennu Asteroid Sample in Person
A tiny piece of the space rock made its public debut at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, as scientists study the rest of the sample
Mysterious Lumps in Earth's Mantle May Be Remains of the Crash That Formed the Moon
Chunks of a protoplanet called Theia became lodged within Earth after the two worlds smashed together, new computer simulations suggest
A Supervolcano on Pluto May Have Spewed Ice Just a Few Million Years Ago
An unusual crater on the dwarf planet hints at past volcanic activity—and a possible vast ocean beneath its surface, scientists say
Mars' Core May Be Smaller Than Thought, Wrapped in a Sea of Molten Rock
Based on seismic waves from a meteorite impact, two teams of scientists suggest the Red Planet has another layer deep beneath its surface
New 'Little Prince' Statue Sits Near Central Park and Gazes Up at the Stars
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote and illustrated much of the beloved novella while living in the city in the 1940s
A Sample of Ancient Asteroid Dust Has Landed Safely on Earth
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission retrieved bits of rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu, which could help scientists uncover the origins of life on our planet
What Would Signal Life on Another Planet?
Astronomers have long debated what kind of chemistry might serve as a bona fide alien biosignature
This Exoplanet May Be a Distant Ocean World, James Webb Telescope Finds
The observatory detected evidence of methane and carbon dioxide—and tentatively observed a molecule that, on Earth, is only made by living things
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