Pluto

Buried oceans like the one sloshing beneath the icy surface of the Jupiter moon Europa may be far more common across the cosmos than scientists had imagined.

A friendly debate about Pluto's planethood yesterday (April 29) ended in an informal vote that came down in favor of reinstating the dwarf planet's status.

Ever since Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet in 2006, the debate over its planethood has raged on. Tonight, April 26, you can watch that debate online.

Scientists have spent 12 years arguing over how to classify Pluto, and a recently published paper offers a new — but surprisingly old — reason for restoring the object's planetary status.

The long-simmering argument about Pluto's planethood has just flared up again.

New Horizons team members have traveled to Argentina and South Africa to watch the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 — the mission's next flyby target — pass in front of a distant star.

The New Horizons probe that flew by Pluto in 2015 sent back data suggesting this icy world possesses organics, water and energy, or what scientists consider the necessary ingredients for life.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft performed a brief engine burn Wednesday (Feb. 1) in preparation for its 2019 flyby of a small, distant object known as 2014 MU69.