Planets | Science News for Students

Planets

an illustration of a ploonet

There’s a new kind of space object out there. The “ploonet.” This is a moon that escaped the gravity of a gas giant. These ploonets might explain the existence of comets around distant stars, shown here in an artist’s illustration.

Lynnette Cook/Fuse/NASA

Planets
 
Jul 18, 2019
What do you call a moon that escapes its planet? A ‘ploonet’
a photo of InSight lander’s seismometer on Mars

The InSight lander’s seismometer, shown here on Mars (protected by a dome), appears to have detected its first quake.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

Planets
 
Jun 4, 2019
Was that a Marsquake?
a photo from the Chang’e-4 lunar probe of the far side of the moon

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar probe gives a rare glimpse of the farside of the moon.

Xinhua/Xinhua via Getty Images

Space
 
Jan 25, 2019
China landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon
a photo of a three stages of blood moon eclipse from July 2018 showcasing a very red moon in the middle image

During a "total" lunar eclipse, the moon will remain partially visible in the sky but take on a dark red hue.

Bernd Thaller/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Weather & Climate
 
Jan 17, 2019
Distant volcano could turn latest lunar eclipse dark red
An illustration of what it might have looked like just before the InSight lander touched down on Mars. Pictured: a saucer shaped lander with three legs close the the Martian surface

This is an artist’s view of what it might have looked like when the InSight was about to touch down on Mars. The craft successfully landed November 26 on the Red Planet.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA

Space
 
Nov 28, 2018
Quake-scouting lander safely touches down on Mars
an illustration of a dark exomoon orbiting a bright Jupiter-sized planet

The Hubble Space Telescope may have spotted a Neptune-sized moon orbiting a Jupiter-sized planet, as shown in this illustration.

Dan Durda

Space
 
Oct 17, 2018
Hubble may have spotted a possible ‘exomoon’
an image of Jupiter showing the orbits of the 12 newly discovered moons around the planet

Of 12 newly discovered moons of Jupiter (illustrated in bold, orange, blue and green), one orbits in the opposite direction of its neighbors (arrows show orbit direction). Four moons discovered by the spacecraft Galileo are also shown (purple).

Roberto Molar Candanosa/Carnegie Institution for Science

Planets
 
Aug 20, 2018
Jupiter has 12 more moons than we knew about — and one is a weirdo
an image of the highest mountains on Pluto

New maps of Pluto show details of the dwarf planet’s mountains. Shown here are the highest mountains. The rise 3 to 6 kilometers (1.9 to 3.7 miles) above the smooth plains called Sputnik Planitia. The plains are made of nitrogen-ice.

Paul Schenk/Lunar and Planetary Institute

Planets
 
Aug 10, 2018
New Horizons data reveal first global maps of Pluto and Charon
an image of Mars' south pole

Scientists found what they think is a lake hidden under ice (white) near Mars’ south pole, seen in this image from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft.

ESA, DLR, FU BERLIN (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

Planets
 
Jul 31, 2018
Finding living Martians just got a bit more believable
an image of Mars' souther polar ice sheets from orbit

There may be a 20-kilometer-wide lake hidden under Mars’ southern polar ice sheets. Those ice sheet are shown here in images from a camera on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.

Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Mars Orbiter Camera data/NASA

Planets
 
Jul 26, 2018
Mars appears to have a lake of liquid water