Planets
- Planets
What the Curiosity rover has learned about Mars so far
Scientists take stock of what the Curiosity rover has learned after five years on Mars — and what else it may turn up in the next year or so.
- Planets
Early solar system may have slung giant mud balls
The first asteroids may have been great balls of mud. That could solve some puzzling traits of meteorites.
- Planets
Small, distant worlds are either big Earths or little Neptunes
The Kepler space telescope data are in. They split Earth-like exoplanets into two groups and reveal 10 new rocky planets in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone.
- Planets
Jupiter may be the solar system’s oldest planet
Jupiter’s early existence may explain the odd arrangement of planets in the solar system, a new study suggests.
- Planets
Hot, hot planet sets sizzling new record
Astronomers have discovered an odd new exoplanet. Called KELT 9b, is the hottest non-star known.
- Planets
Jupiter gets surprisingly complex new portrait
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has sent back unexpected details about Jupiter, giving scientists their first close-up of this gas giant.
- Planets
Scientists Say: Eclipse
How the sun, moon and Earth line up determines whether there’s a solar or lunar eclipse.
- Planets
How Earth got its moon
How did our moon form? Scientists are still debating the answer. It may be the result of some one big impact with Earth — or perhaps many small ones.
- Planets
Analyze This: The masses of planets
Scientists discovered a solar system with planets that are similar in size and mass to Earth. Using data, we take a closer look at that similarity.
- Planets
Scientists Say: Dwarf planet
Dwarf planets are distinct from the full-size models. A little too small, they also have a lot of space stuff filling their path around the sun.
- Planets
Scientists Say: Goldilocks zone
Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. This is the region around a star where water could be a liquid, instead of a solid or gas.
- Planets
New solar system found to have 7 Earth-size planets
A neighboring star system hosts seven Earth-like planets. Especially surprising: Three of those planets appear to reside in a zone that could support life as we know it.
