Planets
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SpaceScientists Say: Gas giant
These gargantuan planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, are mostly made up of hydrogen and helium gas.
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PlanetsGlass beads help scientists puzzle out how baby planets grow
Researchers have mimicked the first stages of planet formation in the lab. All they needed were glass beads and a catapult.
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PlanetsAstronomers spot new type of storm on Saturn
These storms are bigger and longer lasting than squalls but not nearly as massive as this planet's Great White Spots.
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PlanetsSaturn now reigns as the solar system’s ‘moon king’
Saturn now boasts at least 82 moons, surpassing Jupiter’s 79 natural satellites.
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PlanetsDoes the moon influence people?
Unless you believe in werewolves (and you shouldn’t), there are few compelling data to suggest the moon has a big effect on people.
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PlanetsSpotted: An exoplanet where it might rain
A planet outside the solar system appears to have clouds with liquid water.
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PlanetsPhysics Nobel rewards discoveries on cosmic evolution and exoplanets
This trio of scientists helped figure out the makeup of our universe. Two of them also identified the first known exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star.
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SpaceLearning from what Apollo astronauts left on the moon
In the 1960s and ’70s, Apollo astronauts left trash, mementos and science experiments on the moon. Researchers want to study and preserve the relics.
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PlanetsPreserving remnants of human culture on the moon
Artifacts left behind by lunar landings have value to research and human history. Scientists now want to preserve those cast-offs while also learning from them.
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PlanetsStudents help name 5 of Jupiter’s newly discovered moons
Astronomers announced discovering 12 new moons of Jupiter in July 2018. Five of them now just been named for goddesses and spirits of Greek and Roman mythology.
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PlanetsWelcome to moon rock central
A Science News reporter’s visit to NASA’s moon-rock lab shows the hyper-pristine conditions in which these rocks are kept — and why that’s so important.
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PlanetsWhat do you call a moon that escapes its planet? A ‘ploonet’
Giant planets in other star systems might lose their moons, creating new planets. And if moons do go rogue, current telescopes may be able to find them.