Planets

Planets

Picture This: Falling to a comet

After a more than decade-long ride, a robotic lander has left its spacecraft and floated down onto the surface of a comet. From there it should begin scouting for hints at how our solar system formed.

Planets

Distant world hosts water

One measure of an extraterrestrial world’s potential for supporting life is the presence of water. The Neptune-size HAT-P-11b fits that criterion.

Planets

This moon’s surface slides, just like Earth’s

Europa is one of Jupiter’s giant, icy moons. Scientists say it has plate tectonics, which means its surface is covered by moving, giant slabs.

Planets

Asteroids: A stepping stone to Mars?

NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission, designed to capture and move an asteroid, may be a step toward getting to Mars. But not everyone agrees it's the right step.

Planets

Asteroids: Avoiding an Earthly smashup

Any of nearly 1,500 asteroids could hit Earth. Experts want to learn more about the space rocks — and maybe even bump them off course.

Planets

Explainer: What are asteroids?

Leftovers from the creation of the solar system, asteroids are space rocks that orbit the sun. Let’s hope the big ones never become meteorites.

Earth

Meteorites likely wiped out Earth’s earliest life

Enormous meteorites appear to have slammed into Earth several times early in its history. Each mega-smashup would have boiled off oceans and obliterated any bit of life.

Physics

Smooshed diamonds: A window into exoplanets?

Scientists have compressed diamonds more than ever before. Their carbon may give clues to what conditions might be like deep within planets way beyond our solar system.

Planets

First mega-Earth found

Astronomers are puzzled by Kepler-10c. This exoplanet is rocky like Earth — but as massive as Neptune. And that challenges their accepted ideas about how planets form.

Planets

Distant planet may boast the longest year

On a planet far, far away, a single pass around its sun may seem to last forever.

Planets

A ‘Goldilocks’ world?

Scientists have spotted a faraway planet that is nearly the size of Earth and could host liquid water. It's too far to visit, but astronomers say the galaxy could be littered with such potentially habitable worlds. Don't hang up yet, E.T.

Planets

Heavenly research

Groundbreaking research in astronomy landed four high school seniors spots as finalists in the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search.