Solar System

Latest about Solar System

Artist's illustration of SpaceX's Starship vehicle on the moon during an Artemis astronaut mission for NASA.

A city on the moon: Why SpaceX shifted its focus away from Mars

By Mike Wall published

Just 13 months after declaring the moon "a distraction," Elon Musk has announced that Earth's nearest neighbor is now the focus of SpaceX's settlement plans. What changed?

The moon
A white light of the comet 3I/ATLAS is surrounded by a blue glow against a black background

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS survived its flyby of the sun — and gave up some secrets in the process

By Paul Sutter published

Interstellar comets are the original cosmic explorers, and by studying their metallic whispers, we are learning the secrets of worlds we may never see directly.

Comets
An illustration showing a floating spacecraft with a blue search beam looking down at the reddish bumpy surface of Venus with Earth in the far distance

Venus may have an underground tunnel carved by volcano eruptions

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Scientists analyzing decades-old NASA's Magellan data have identified only the second reported lava tube on Venus.

Venus

What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2026

By Tariq Malik, Daisy Dobrijevic last updated

Reference See what moon phase it is tonight and find out when you can see the rest of the moon phases for 2026.

Reference
A series of adobe red buildings on a hillside with snowy mountains in the background

What Americans lose if their National Center for Atmospheric Research is dismantled

By Carlos Martinez published

Five ways dismantling NCAR will cost the American people, and two ways to save it.

Earth
earth as seen from space

The way Earth's surface moves has a bigger impact on shifting the climate than we knew

By Ben Mather, Adriana Dutkiewicz, Dietmar Müller, Sabin Zahirovic published

New research reveals the source of this carbon – and the driving forces behind it – are far more complex than previously thought.

Earth
Two images side by side, the one on the left shows a large glowing ball of light in red near a bunch of glowing red dots, with the image on the left being the same image but in blue

NASA space telescope sees interstellar visitor comet 3I/ATLAS flare up while exiting the solar system

By Samantha Mathewson published

New infrared observations reveal that the rare interstellar visitor known as comet 3I/ATLAS has dramatically brightened during its farewell tour of the solar system.

Comets
a terrain of red dirt under a reddish-orange sky

Could a toxic chemical in Mars dirt help us build a Red Planet base?

By Keith Cooper published

Perchlorate, a toxic substance found in Mars dirt, could help the bacterium Sporosarcina pasteurii strengthen bonds between particles of regolith.

Mars
A black and white image shows a gray background speckled with dots with a crosshairs and a box circling a specific dot in the center of the image

Will a bright comet adorn our early spring sky? Why astronomers are getting excited about Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS)

By Joe Rao published

Some astronomers have noted that its faint magnitude "does not bode well for the comet's survival past perihelion."

Comets

Sun unleashes colossal X4.2 solar flare, knocking out radio signals across Africa and Europe (video)

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

An impulsive X4.2 solar flare sparked strong radio blackouts across Africa and Europe as the giant sunspot continues to rage.

The Sun
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