Planets

Planets

Here are 5 exoplanet mysteries the James Webb telescope could help solve

This space telescope could reveal much about the formation, makeup and evolution of distant exoplanets.

Planets

Active volcanoes may be common on Venus

Researchers took a new look at decades-old images from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. These now suggest volcanic activity is widespread on the planet.

Planets

Pluto’s heart may hide the rocky wreckage of an ancient impact

A huge, rocky remnant beneath Pluto’s surface could explain the odd location of Sputnik Planitia — its famous heart-shaped basin.

Planets

The desert planet in ‘Dune’ is pretty realistic, scientists say

 Humans could live on the fictional planet Arrakis from Dune. But thankfully giant sandworms probably could not.

Space

Here’s how to build an internet on Mars

Future Red Planet residents will need to get online to talk to each other and Earth. But that will require a lot of new tech.

Space

Let’s learn about meteorites

Meteorites are bits of space rock that have crash-landed on Earth — or on another celestial body.

Planets

Huge polygons on Mars hint its equator may once have been frozen

A Chinese rover used radar to reveal long-buried terrain. The discovery hints that Mars’ equator was once much colder and wetter.

Planets

Jupiter has a never-before-seen jet stream — and it’s speedy

Spotted in images from the James Webb telescope, the high-altitude current may help untangle the workings of the giant planet’s atmosphere.

Planets

Analyze This: Neptune’s cloud cover syncs up with the solar cycle

Telescope observations hint how sunlight-driven chemistry may boost cloud cover on our solar system’s farthest planet.

Planets

In a first, astronomers spot the aftermath of an exoplanet smashup

Infrared light from a distant star appears to be leftovers of an impact between a pair of Neptune-sized worlds.

Space

Four researchers on Earth are spending a year on ‘Mars’

A crew of four entered Mars Dune Alpha in Houston, Texas. They will remain isolated inside for a year, living and working as if on the Red Planet.

Space

Lightning dances through Jupiter’s skies much like it does on Earth 

Data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft hint that Jupiter’s lightning extends in jagged steps as it does on Earth.