Solar System

Latest about Solar System

laptop graphic showing a comet on the screen and the words live streaming in the top right corner.

Watch comets Lemmon and SWAN make their closest approach to Earth live online on Oct. 20

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

The livestream is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) on Oct. 20.

Comets

What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2025

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 2025.

Reference
A close up of a the reddish-brown surface of Mars with white streaks across it

If life on Mars exists, it may be preserved in a frozen time capsule

By Samantha Mathewson published

If life ever existed on Mars, traces of it might still be frozen beneath the planet’s icy surface.

Mars
A gray scale image showing a labeled "dune crest" at the edge of a Martian gulley with wind patterns showing the geology of the formation.

Dry ice may burrow through Mars like sandworms in 'Dune'

By Samantha Mathewson published

Blocks of carbon dioxide ice appear to carve mysterious gullies on Mars as they melt down dune slopes and blast away sand.

Mars
An image of Earth from space, with bright brown land streaked with a dark green river on the right side of the image with a curved ridge from left to right meeting the river toward the bottom of the image

Where the ridge meets the river | Space photo of the day for Oct. 16, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

From above Earth, LandSat 9's keen eye captures a stunning Y-shaped meeting of ridge and river in China's Tarim Basin.

Earth
An illustration showing the path of near-Earth asteroid 2025 TP5 as it passes by Earth

Asteroid discovered only 2 days ago just flew by Earth closer than the moon

By Elizabeth Howell published

A small asteroid, called 2025 TP5, safely flew by our planet on Oct. 15 at about a quarter of the distance to the moon.

Asteroids
Artist's illustration of Impulse Space's planned lunar lander circling the moon.

A new private moon lander rises: Impulse Space throws its hat into the lunar ring

By Mike Wall published

Impulse Space — which was founded by Tom Mueller, SpaceX's second-ever employee — just announced that it plans to build a robotic moon lander to help open the lunar frontier.

The moon
a map of earth overlaid in splotches of orange and purple

A giant weak spot in Earth's magnetic field is getting bigger — and it could be bad news for satellites

By Brett Tingley published

Satellite data reveal that a weak region in Earth's magnetic field has grown by an area roughly half the size of continental Europe in the last 10 years.

Earth
A man wearing a hard hat and a yellow jumpsuit looks up the wall of a narrow dark cave.

From caves to the cosmos | Space photo of the day for Oct. 14, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

ESA astronaut Marco Sieber journeyed deep underground in Italy's Apennines for CAVES training

Earth
An illustration showing a spacecraft to the right of a rocky asteroid in the foreground with the Earth in the left background

How do asteroids spin in space? The answer could help us prevent a catastrophic Earth impact

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

From how space rocks wobble to where to hit them, scientists are learning the fine art of asteroid deflection — and it could one day save Earth.

Asteroids
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