Solar System

Latest about Solar System

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

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 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
(Left) the ringed gas giant Saturn (Right) Jupiter as seen by Hubble with a glowing polar vortex

Mysterious polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn could be key to understanding their insides

By Robert Lea published

"I don't think anyone's made this connection between the surface fluid pattern and the interior properties of these planets."

Solar System

Earth was just hit by the strongest solar radiation storm in over 20 years — here's what it means

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

Earth just experienced a rare S4 solar radiation storm, the most intense since 2003 — powerful for satellites and astronauts, but harmless on the ground.

The Sun
A section of Mars’s surface showing a broad area covered with dense, elongated ridges and grooves that fan out diagonally across the image. The terrain is rough and textured in this region, contrasting with the smoother, lighter-coloured surrounding plains. The overall colour is a mix of tan and reddish-brown tones.

Mars orbiter sees odd etchings in the sand | Space photo of the day for Jan. 20, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Even though the Red Planet's atmosphere is thin, wind is still one of Mars' most relentless sculptors.

Mars
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