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Planets

An illustration of what the surface of exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f could look like if it had liquid water

New Research

Could These Nearby Earth-Sized Exoplanets Harbor Liquid Water?

Analysis of the TRAPPIST-1 stellar system shows that several of its planets have the right conditions for liquid water

Backyard Worlds is using the power of citizen scientists to search for the elusive Planet 9.

The Universe Needs You: To Help in the Hunt for Planet 9

How one citizen science endeavor is using the Internet to democratize the search for distant worlds

New Research

It May Rain Diamonds Inside Neptune and Uranus

Scientists have finally simulated the long-proposed shower of gems

The Joshua tree is one of the Mojave Desert's most iconic inhabitants. But it's under threat—and the key to saving it may lie in better understanding its tiny winged partner.

How a Tree and Its Moth Shaped the Mojave Desert

The partnership between the Joshua tree and the yucca moth may be key to understanding how plants and insects co-evolve

Asteroid 2014 MU69 may be composed of two spheres

Cool Finds

New Horizon’s Next Target Is an Oddly Shaped Asteroid

New data shows that MU69 is less than 20 miles long and may actually be two asteroids orbiting one another

New cloud complex discovered on Neptune

Cool Finds

New Storm as Big as Earth Is Stirring Up Neptune’s Atmosphere

Astronomers aren’t sure if the 5,600-mile-wide storm will peter out or if a deep vortex will keep it churning

New Research

Astronomers Find the Smallest Star Yet

The faint orb is just a smidgen bigger than Saturn and around 2,000 to 3,000 times dimmer than our own sun

Art Meets Science

Is Jupiter the “Star” in Lord Byron’s Famous Poem?

According to astronomer Donald Olson, the brilliant star described in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is actually a planet

Auroras on Uranus caused by changes in its magnetosphere

New Research

Magnetic Field Around Uranus Are a Chaotic Mess

Using data from the Voyager 2 mission, researchers have modeled Uranus’s off-kilter magnetosphere

New Research

Kepler Finds 219 New Planets

NASA released the final catalog from its planet-hunting telescope, bringing its total up to 4,034 potential planets

New Research

Jupiter Could Be the Solar System’s Oldest Resident

The early former may have set up just the right conditions for Earth to take shape

The star KELT-9 and its hellish planet KELT-9b

New Research

Researchers Discover a Planet That’s As Hot As a Star

It’s daytime temperatures clock in at a scorching 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit

Jupiter's South Pole is a cluster of dramatic storms.

New Research

New Views of Jupiter Offer Up Marvel and Mystery

From stunning polar images to weird aurorae, the gas giant is even weirder than we thought

Looking toward the sunlit side of Saturn's rings, Cassini captured this image in violet light on Oct. 28, 2016.

Trending Today

Cassini Survives Its Daredevil Plunge Toward Saturn

The craft’s first date with the “big empty” went off without a hitch

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures three of Saturn's moons—Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas—in this group photo.

Space Hub

How and When Did Saturn Get Those Magnificent Rings?

The planet’s rings are coy when it comes to revealing their age, but astronomers are getting closer

Raw image of the storm on Saturn's north pole

Trending Today

Cassini Sends Back First Images From Its Saturn Dives

The stream of raw images include new pictures of the strange hexagonal storm swirling around its north pole

An artist's rendering imagines what Cassini must have looked like as it headed on the first of a series of orbits between Saturn and its rings.

Trending Today

Cassini Makes a Daring Dive

The spacecraft is out of contact as it begins a series of dramatic orbits between Saturn and its rings

An illustration of LHS 1140b orbiting its faint red star

New Research

Exoplanet Discovery Arrives in Time for New Telescope Technology

Astronomers call LHS 1140b one of the “best targets” for hunting liquid water with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

Artist's rendering of what DeeDee may look like

New Research

Meet DeeDee, the Solar System’s Newest Dwarf Planet (Maybe)

Though the tiny icy orb meets all the criteria, it has yet to receive the official designation

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