Planets
- Planets
Mars appears to have a lake of liquid water
A 15-year-old Mars orbiter has spotted signs of a salty lake beneath the Red Planet’s southern polar ice sheets.
- Planets
Thick atmosphere boosts how fast Venus spins
The thick atmosphere on Venus can change by a few minutes every day how long it takes the planet to rotate.
- Planets
Pluto’s heart has dunes of methane ice
Pluto’s heart-shaped plains are striped with sand dunes. The sand is made of methane ice.
- Chemistry
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
Inside a meteorite, scientists found sulfur and iron wrapped in tiny diamonds. Those gems hint the rock formed inside a long-lost planet.
By Emily Conover and Lisa Grossman -
- Planets
Asteroids may have delivered water to early Earth
Scientists shot mineral pellets at a simulated planet. It showed an impact wouldn’t have boiled off all of an asteroid’s water.
- Planets
Flared! How a planetary ‘neighbor’ may have been fried
Hoping for life on the planet our stellar neighbor Proxima Centauri? Don’t hold your breath. Its star may have sterilized its Earthlike exoplanet.
- Planets
Here’s why Venus is so unwelcoming
Venus is hard to study. Scientists also find it hard to get money to send spacecraft there. But researchers have ideas about how to tackle both challenges.
- Space
Preparing for that trip to Mars
These scientists are working to make a human mission to Mars a reality.
By Ilima Loomis - Planets
Saturn’s rings might be shredded moons
Final data from the Cassini spacecraft put a mass and a date of birth on the gas giant’s iconic rings.
- Earth
Hot on the trail of Antarctic meteorites
For intrepid scientists, spotting meteorites against Antarctica’s dazzling whiteness is easy. Then what?
By Beth Geiger - Planets
Space toilet may teach scientists how to scout for life on distant icy moons
Lessons learned from flushing space toilets may help plan life-hunting missions on distant icy moons.