Solar System

Latest about Solar System

A streaking white comet moves to the left of the image with a boxout showing a floating metal spacecraft with two opposing solar panels in space

NASA exoplanet probe tracks interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS to gauge its spin

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The interstellar visitor may still have a few things to tell us before it leaves our solar system.

Comets
Wednesday, January 30, 2019: As a dangerously cold rush of air is sweeping across the Midwest United States today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-East satellite is keeping an eye on the record-breaking weather event from space. This surge of cold air is the result of a rift in the polar vortex, a circulation of winds that surround the North Pole.

How Earth's atmosphere and climate come together to create a polar vortex

By Judah Cohen, Mathew Barlow published

To understand what Americans are experiencing with this winter blast, we need to look more than 20 miles above the surface of Earth, to the stratospheric polar vortex.

Earth
A vertical building is lit up in red, white and blue colors with the numbers 250 on it from top to bottom next to a white illuminated building with columns against a dark night sky.

America's 250th lights up Washington Monument | Space photo of the day for Jan. 28, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

A 250th anniversary only comes once in a lifetime.

Earth

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
An illustration of dwarf planet Haumea, its two moons and a narrow ring of rocky particles.

From Pluto to Ceres: A dwarf planet word search

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Hunt for the names of mysterious dwarf planets, most of which orbit on the fringes of our solar system

Dwarf Planets
An artist's impression of an asteroid fragmenting into multiple chunks. The chunks come from a glowing light to the left of the image

Venus may get a huge meteor shower this July, thanks to a long-ago asteroid breakup

By Keith Cooper published

This coming July, Venus could plow through the dust generated by an asteroid breakup thousands of years ago, potentially sparking an impressive meteor shower.

Venus
A close up of the sun with a solar flare present on the right of the solar disk.

Magnetic avalanches on the sun reveal the hidden engine powering solar flares

By Keith Cooper published

"This is one of the most exciting results from Solar Orbiter so far."

The Sun
A rendering of a lunar lander of the European Space Agency’s Argonaut program, which has its first mission to the moon scheduled for 2030. Methane released from spacecraft like these could contaminate icy regions of the moon’s poles that might harbor clues about the origins of life on Earth.

Moon landings could contaminate evidence about life's beginnings on Earth. Here's how

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Exhaust from lunar landers drifts across the moon and contaminates ultra-cold polar craters that are rich in ancient ice and organic clues, a new study reports.

The moon
An illustration shows an asteroid heading for a lunar impact

A colossal asteroid may have warped the moon from the inside out

By Keith Cooper published

The findings are a big clue as to why the far and near hemispheres of the moon look so different.

The moon
A submarine below the thick icy crust of Jupiter's Moon Europa would experience about the same pressure as a vehicle in the hadal zone.

Sinking ice on Jupiter's moon Europa may be slowly feeding its ocean the ingredients for life

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

"Most excitingly, this new idea addresses one of the longstanding habitability problems on Europa and is a good sign for the prospects of extraterrestrial life in its ocean."

Jupiter
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