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Solar System

A mosaic of high-resolution images of Pluto shows the icy plane informally called Sputnik Planum.

Trending Today

Detailed Pluto Photos Reveal Dunes, Melted Plains and More

“If an artist had painted this Pluto before our flyby, I probably would have called it over the top — but that’s what is actually there.”

An aurora glows near Australia in a photo taken from the International Space Station. Auroras are products of charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Is at Least Four Billion Years Old

Tiny grains of Australian zircon hold evidence that our magnetic shielding was active very soon after the planet formed

New Horizons snapped this parting shot of Pluto on July 15, 2015.

New Horizons Snaps a Final Shot of Pluto

So long, dwarf planet!

Turns out Pluto is covered in ice mountains up to 11,000 feet high.

Behold, the First Closeup Pictures From the Pluto Flyby Are Here

From fresh-faced moons to ice mountains, these are the visual surprises that hit the ground the day after the Pluto flyby

Exaggerating the colors on Pluto and Charon helps mission scientists see distinct terrains on each icy world.

Where Will the New Horizons Probe Go After Pluto?

The historic flyby may be over, but the spacecraft should still go on to study even smaller bodies on its path through the Kuiper belt

Pluto as seen by New Horizons on July 13, when the spacecraft was about 476,000 miles from the surface.

The New Horizons Probe Has Made Its Closest Approach to Pluto

Mission scientists have received the confirmation signal that the pre-programmed event went as planned and the craft is healthy

A color image of Pluto and its moon Charon captured on July 11, 2015 by New Horizons

New Research

New Horizons Probe Reveals That Pluto is Bigger Than Expected

But so far it still won’t be considered a “planet”

Hello, Pluto! We <3 you, too.

New Research

Pluto Probe Finds Surprises Ahead of Its Close Encounter

From dark poles to weird “whales”, New Horizons is giving us a taste of the historic science we can expect from its visit to Pluto

What Did Insects Evolve From and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

This artist's rendering shows New Horizons encountering Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.

Seven Surprises From the First Flybys of Each Planet in the Solar System

As the New Horizons probe approaches Pluto, find out what wonders were uncovered by the first spacecraft to zip past other worlds

Colorized radar images from the Cassini spacecraft show some of the many lakes on Titan

New Research

Lakes on Saturn’s Moon are Really Sinkholes Filled With Liquid Methane and Ethane

Strange and changeable lakes might form just as certain water-filled lakes do on Earth

Scientist know that Venus' surface, depicted here based on radar data, was shaped by volcanoes, and a new study suggests they may still be active.

New Research

Venus (Probably) Has Active Volcanoes

And they’re (probably) erupting!

A mosaic image shows magnetic activity on the solar disk, which is surrounded by the relatively faint corona.

New Research

A “Mangrove Forest” of Magnetism May Help Heat the Sun’s Corona

New simulations might explain why the sun’s atmosphere is bizarrely millions of degrees hotter than its surface

An artist's rendering of the Pluto system seen from the surface of one of its moons.

New Research

Weird Orbital Behaviors Offer Clues to the Origins of Pluto’s Moons

Solving the mystery of these satellites could help astronomers understand “Tatooine” exoplanets that orbit binary stars

The dark gray object lurking above the Herschel crater on Mars is the Martian moon Phobos, as seen by the Viking Orbiter 1 in 1977

New Research

Did Mars Steal its Moons From the Asteroid Belt?

Scientists still aren’t sure where the odd little moons came from, but they have ideas

Cool Finds

There Might Really Be a Planet X, Lurking Beyond Pluto

The far reaches of our own solar system could contain worlds undiscovered.

Jupiter with moons Io and Europa as seen by the Voyager I probe

New Research

Jupiter Made Our Solar System Weird

The gas giant just had to throw its mass around

An artist's rendition of Pluto's surface.

Cool Finds

Make Your Mark on Pluto by Helping Name Its Features

The New Horizons team is asking the public for help labeling the maps of Pluto and one of its moons

A mosaic of Enceladus collected by Cassini showing deep fissures or sulci

New Research

A Hint That a Saturnian Moon Could Have Hydrothermal Vents—And Support Life

Grains of silica from Saturn’s magnetosphere likely came from Enceladus and may mean the moon has hydrothermal vents

An artist’s interpretation of an object slamming into the early Earth

New Research

Metal Rain Could Explain Why the Earth Made of Different Stuff Than the Moon

A new study shows that iron-rich asteroids could have vaporized when they hit the early Earth

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