Planets
Massive underground lava tube found on Venus
A collapsed structure, which turned up in 30-year-old radar data from Venus, may be one of many underground caves.
By Tom Metcalfe
Planets
More Stories in Planets
- Space
Astronauts are flying to the moon aboard Artemis II
This first human trip to the moon in more than 50 years will take four astronauts farther than anyone has gone before.
- Planets
Let’s learn about Venus
Venus’ surface is hot enough to melt lead, studded with volcanoes and shrouded in clouds of corrosive acid.
- Planets
Listen to the crackle of ‘mini-lightning’ on Mars
Scientists suspected Mars had these zaps but had never detected them — until now. NASA’s Perseverance rover recorded them generated by dusty gusts.
- Space
35 years on, Hubble continues to revolutionize astronomy
The Hubble Space Telescope is an icon in astronomy. Here are some of its most out-of-this-world images.
- Space
A new dwarf planet may skirt the edge of our solar system
For the distant object, one trip around the sun takes over 24,000 years. Its orbit challenges a proposed path for a hypothetical “Planet Nine.”
- Planets
Here’s how future Martians might take their first breaths
Mars would need an atmosphere thick enough to hold heat and with enough oxygen for people to breathe. This is how we might terraform Mars.
- Planets
The surface of Venus is morphing
Circular landforms speckling Venus' surface may be the work of tectonics — similar to the forces that reshape Earth’s surface.
- Planets
Perseverance took the first picture of a visible aurora on Mars
A faint yet visible aurora has been spotted on Mars. It’s the first such light show seen from another planet's surface.
- Space
A passing star could fling Earth out of orbit — or into the sun
Computer models show that a star's tug could send Mercury, Venus or Mars crashing into Earth — or let Jupiter eject our world from the solar system.
