Planets
- Space
Ancient volcanoes may have left ice at the moon’s poles
Volcanic eruptions billions of years ago may have produced several temporary atmospheres on the moon that held water vapor.
- Planets
The InSight lander has caught a large ‘earthquake’ on Mars
This magnitude 5 quake is offering scientists a peek at what’s going on beneath the Martian surface.
- Planets
Analyze This: Some 5,000 planets orbit stars other than our sun
A new cache of confirmed exoplanet discoveries marks a milestone in planets found beyond our solar system.
- Space
Explainer: All about orbits
A handful of rules can describe the route some object repeatedly takes around another in space. Calculating that path, however, can be quite complex.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Atmosphere
An atmosphere is an envelope of gas around a planet, dwarf planet or moon.
- Planets
Mercury’s surface may be studded with diamonds
Billions of years of meteorite impacts may have transformed much of Mercury's graphite crust into precious gemstones.
- Planets
Let’s learn about Pluto
Once known as a pipsqueak planet, Pluto is now the solar system’s best known dwarf planet.
- Planets
No, organic molecules alone don’t point to life on Mars
These carbon-based molecules, found in a meteorite, may reflect merely a mixing of water and minerals on the Red Planet over billions of years.
- Space
The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope has a big to-do list
The James Webb Space Telescope has been in the works for so long that new fields of science have emerged for it to study.
- Space
Astronomers may have found first known planet in another galaxy
The spiral-shaped Whirlpool galaxy may be home to the first planet spotted outside our own Milky Way galaxy.
- Planets
NASA’s Perseverance rover grabbed its first Martian rocks
Two finger-sized pieces of stone drilled from a basalt rock are the first bits of Mars ready to be brought to Earth.
- Planets
Pluto is no longer a planet — or is it?
In the 15 years since Pluto lost its status as a planet, some scientists continue to use whatever definition works best for them.
