Planets

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. Earth

    Scientists Say: Atmosphere

    An atmosphere is an envelope of gas around a planet, dwarf planet or moon.

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  5. 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.

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  6. Planets

    Let’s learn about Pluto

    Once known as a pipsqueak planet, Pluto is now the solar system’s best known dwarf planet.

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. Planets

    Jupiter’s intense auroras heat up its atmosphere

    Jupiter’s hotter-than-expected upper atmosphere may be warmed by charged particles slamming into the air above the poles.

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