Planets
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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.
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PlanetsWas that a Marsquake?
‘Marsquakes’ could help scientists learn more about the Red Planet’s inner activity.
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PlanetsTeen astronomer finds a planet with two suns
Brian Wu, a teen researcher from New York City, has discovered a handful of distant planets, including a massive world that orbits two suns.
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SpaceChina landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon
China just brought down a lander and rover on the far side of the moon. Let the science begin!
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ClimateDistant volcano could turn latest lunar eclipse dark red
The recent eruption of Anak Krakatau, an Indonesian volcano, could alter the color of this coming weekend’s lunar eclipse.
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PlanetsScientists Say: Exomoon
A moon that orbits a planet in our solar system in a moon. But a moon that orbits a planet outside our solar system? That’s an exomoon.
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SpaceQuake-scouting lander safely touches down on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander has just arrived safely on the Martian surface. Its two year mission is to record any ‘Marsquakes’ and other signs of the planet’s geologic activity.
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PlanetsPrepping for drone exploration of Mars
Twelve-year-old James Fagan, a budding engineer from Riverside, Calif., has built a wind tunnel. He uses it to test scale models of drones and other vehicles under Mars-like conditions.
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SpaceHubble may have spotted a possible ‘exomoon’
The apparent moon would be the size of Neptune and orbit a distant gas-giant planet known as Kepler 1625b.
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PlanetsJupiter has 12 more moons than we knew about — and one is a weirdo
Astronomers found a dozen previously unknown moons of Jupiter. One may be a remnant of a larger moon that was all but ground to dust.
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PlanetsNew Horizons data reveal first global maps of Pluto and Charon
Astronomers have made new charts of Pluto and its moon Charon. They show high peaks, deep depressions and strange ridges.