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Solar System

An artistic conception of one of the Voyagers speeding through space

NASA Completes Daring ‘Big Bang’ Fix on the Voyager 2 Probe, Allowing It to Keep Studying Interstellar Space

Scientists swapped three of the probe’s heating devices for ones that use less energy, and they might do the same with Voyager 1. Both spacecraft launched almost 50 years ago

The highest-resolution image of the sun's surface ever captured

Stunning New Images Reveal Whirlpools on the Sun’s Surface. The Swirling Structures Might Help Power Solar Flares

Observed directly in the solar photosphere for the first time, the vortices might braid magnetic fields, thought to be responsible for energy buildups and eventual outbursts. The features also offer clues about why the sun’s outer atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than its surface

The crew of the Artemis 2 mission captured this image of a total solar eclipse just after rounding the far side of the moon on April 6.

‘Like a Hole in the Universe’: Artemis 2 Astronaut Victor Glover Reflects on Seeing a Total Solar Eclipse While Flying by the Moon

The four astronauts who rounded Earth’s natural satellite in April got an extremely rare view of the dark lunar disk blocking out the sun. Researchers say the observations provide unique scientific value for understanding our star’s mysteries

A 2022 image of Neptune, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera

Neptune May Have Once Witnessed a Lunar Massacre That Turned Its Original Moons ‘Inside Out’

A new study identifies an unexpected mineral in two of the planet’s inner moons, pointing to a destructive past in which a large object got pulled into the system and obliterated the former, larger satellites

An illustration of the Beta Pictoris system features the newly discovered planet, Beta Pictoris d, at the right. Its orbit is wider than those of the two other known planets moving around its star.

Astronomers Noticed a Mysterious Spot Appearing in Telescope Images. It Turned Out to Be the Faintest Exoplanet Ever Imaged From Earth

The gas giant, called Beta Pictoris d, had been hiding in plain sight for more than a decade, until two independent teams verified its existence

The Perseverance rover inspects a Martian rock called Cheyava Falls using its Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument.

Mars Rover Spots Complex Carbon on the Red Planet, Marking Yet Another Detection of a Building Block of Life

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 organisms

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, imaged here with its broad coma of gas and dust, has captivated astronomers since its discovery on July 1, 2025.

A Rare Comet Made History as the Third Known Interstellar Object to Fly Through Our Solar System. Studies Are Now Revealing the Mysterious Conditions in Which It Formed

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 system

The new image of the center of the Milky Way, which is packed with stars

See the Most Detailed Photo of the Milky Way’s Heart Ever Taken in Visible Light, Which Will Help Astronomers Hunt for Exoplanets

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 galaxy

An image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS captured by a telescope in Hawaii

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Might Be the Oldest Object Ever Seen in Our Solar System, a Study Suggests

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 system

The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula is a region where stars are born, seen in Smithsonian Starstruck.

See a Diamond Planet, an Exploding Star and a Black Hole Up Close in a New Immersive Virtual Reality Experience

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 universe

A slice of the rare angrite meteorite NWA 12774 shows olivine crystal (green), a mineral rich in magnesium.

A Rare Meteorite Found in the Sahara Desert Offers Evidence of a Lost Protoplanet

Chemical signatures indicate the meteorite came from an early planet that met an untimely end during the formation of our solar system

A blue moon in 2015

A Smaller Than Usual Blue Moon Will End the Month With a Lunar Spectacle. Here’s What to Know About the Full Micromoon

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 moon

As the Psyche spacecraft approached Mars from its night side, the red planet looked like a crescent.

See NASA’s Stunning New Images of Mars Captured During an Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft’s Strategic Flyby

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 15

Neptune, which appears blue because of methane in its atmosphere, has a strange set of moons.

Neptune’s Moon Nereid Might Be the Sole Intact Survivor of an Ancient Lunar Collision

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 companions

Curiosity had a 28.6-pound rock dubbed "Atacama" stuck to its arm for a while.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Had a Martian Rock Stuck on Its Arm for Days. Watch It Finally Shake the Stubborn Stone Off

While drilling has fractured rocks, this is the first time the instrument has ever accidentally pulled a whole chunk from the ground, according to the space agency

Illustration of a time sequence as the celestial body moves in front of a distant star

This Tiny Celestial Body Past Pluto Shouldn’t Have an Atmosphere—but Astronomers Say They May Have Detected One

Worlds this small and distant are thought to be too cold and have too little surface gravity to hold onto gases. But the findings suggest that icy, rocky objects in the solar system’s outer reaches are more dynamic than we thought

Comet 3I/ATLAS has much more "heavy" water than comets that formed in the solar system, according to a new study.

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Came From an Extremely Cold, Lonely Region of the Milky Way Galaxy, New Research Suggests

Astronomers analyzed the vapors coming off the comet when it neared the sun and found it had a lot of “heavy” water. That hints it grew up in a frigid planetary system, possibly before its home star formed

Mission engineers have shut down Voyager 1's Low-energy Charged Particles experiment.

To Keep the Voyager 1 Spacecraft on Its Interstellar Journey, NASA Turned Off One of Its Few Remaining Instruments

The probe launched almost 50 years ago and is the farthest human-made object from Earth. Shutting down one of its scientific devices will help it conserve energy and continue traveling toward the edge of the solar system

After drilling a rock sample from a spot on Mars nicknamed “Mary Anning,” NASA’s Curiosity rover took this selfie on October 25, 2020. Now, that sample has revealed organic molecules that have never been seen on the red planet before.

A Mars Rover Found Building Blocks of Life Never Seen on the Red Planet Before, Boosting the Case for Ancient Habitability

The organic molecules discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover could have been formed by life, but they could have also come from geologic processes or meteorites

Astronauts struggle to adapt to weightlessness, even after months on the International Space Station, a study suggests.

Astronauts’ Memories of Earth’s Gravity May Influence How They Move and Hold Objects, Even After Months in Space

Examining the fine motor skills of space travelers can help improve safety for future missions, scientists say

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