Solar System

Our solar system is filled with planets, asteroids, comets, the sun and more, making it a wealth of discoveries waiting to be found. See the latest discoveries from across our solar system here. 

Explore the planets in our solar system: Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Related topics: asteroids, Pluto, the moon, comets

Latest Updates

The Hiawatha impact crater in Greenland, as depicted by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.

Huge asteroid slammed into Greenland just a few million years after the dinosaurs died out

By Stefanie Waldek last updated

It's much, much older than originally anticipated.

These bits of rock and dust were gathered from the C-type asteroid Ryugu by the spacecraft Hayabusa2.

Pristine asteroid Ryugu contains amino acids that are building blocks of life

By Tereza Pultarova published

Samples from asteroid Ryugu are the most pristine pieces of our solar system ever studied and contain amino acids that could have given rise to life on Earth.

In April 2020, NASA's Juno spacecraft spotted something strange in Jupiter's atmosphere. Scientists later identified the observation as a meteor.

Meteor streaks through Jupiter's atmosphere as NASA spacecraft watches

By Chelsea Gohd published

When a rogue meteor careened through the atmosphere of Jupiter last year, it caught the attention of NASA's Juno spacecraft in orbit around the giant planet.

Time-lapse imaging of Yutu 2 progress across the lunar landscape.

China's Yutu 2 rover beams back stunning image after 3 years on moon's far side

By Andrew Jones last updated

China's Yutu 2 rover has returned a view of its path over three years of travel across the harsh environment of the moon's far side.

Asteroid 2022 AE1, discovered in January 2022, seemed to be on a trajectory to collide with Earth.

It seemed like the most dangerous asteroid in a decade, but it definitely won't hit Earth

By Tereza Pultarova published

A recently discovered asteroid seemed to be on a trajectory to hit Earth next year, but orbit recalculation eventually revealed it will miss our planet.

In this illustration, a low-power laser (red cone) on Earth could be used to shift the orbit (red lines) of a small probe (grey circle), or propel it at rapid speeds to Neptune and beyond.

Tiny laser-propelled spaceships could travel to the far reaches of the solar system and beyond

By Charles Q. Choi published

Miniature spaceships the size of cellphones could fly across the solar system using sails propelled by lasers, reaching distant destinations on very reasonable timescales.

Neptune appears deep blue with wispy light blue bands and a brighter white blue speck in the center of the image.

Neptune: A guide to the windy eighth planet from the sun

By Charles Q. Choi last updated

Reference Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun and was the first to be predicted before it was discovered.

Saturn's moon Mimas bears an uncanny resemblance to the Death Star in Star Wars.

Saturn's 'Death Star' moon could have a secret underground ocean

By Ben Turner published

Scientists have found "compelling evidence" that Saturn's "Death Star" moon is hiding an ocean just beneath its surface, furthering the search for possible life in our solar system.

An artist's depiction of the first identified interstellar object to visit our solar system, 'Oumuamua.

Will we ever know the true nature of 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar visitor?

By Paul Sutter published

Astronomers have proposed lots of ideas to explain 'Oumuamua's odd characteristics, and we're unlikely ever to find out which one is correct.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus biography: Facts & discoveries

By Nola Taylor Tillman published

Nicolaus Copernicus proposed his theory that the planets revolved around the sun in the 1500s, when most people believed that Earth was the center of the universe.

This false-colored image, captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, shows rings around a young star named HD163296 (not the sun).

The sun used to have rings like Saturn

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

Before Earth and the other planets in our solar system existed, the sun may have been surrounded by giant rings of dust similar to Saturn's, according to a new study.

An artist's depiction of an asteroid hitting Earth.

Mars and Earth likely formed from collisions of moon-sized rocks

By Charles Q. Choi published

Earth and Mars must have formed from collisions between giant moon-sized rocks rather than from clumping together of a huge amount of tiny pebbles, a new study found.

coldest planet in the solar system

Curious Kids: What is the coldest planet in the solar system?

By Brad Gibson last updated

The heat inside planets is left over from when they were formed.

New images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope capture stunning views of the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, as part of this year's "grand tour" of the solar system.

Hubble telescope's annual 'grand tour' tracks changes in outer solar system

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

It's time for the solar system's annual weather report!

An animation showing the location of the near-Earth asteroids discovered as of January 2018; Earth's orbit is marked by the white line.

Just how many threatening asteroids are there? It's complicated.

By Meghan Bartels published

So you've heard that an asteroid could slam into Earth wreaking all sorts of havoc, but just how many space rocks out there threaten our planet?

The European Space Agency's CESAR team captured this view of a lunar eclipse in January 2019.

What time is the Beaver Moon lunar eclipse?

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Here's when you can watch the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years.

An image of Comet 29P taken a few days after one of its super-outbursts.

This mysterious comet's super-bright outbursts have astronomers puzzled

By Tereza Pultarova published

One of the strangest comets in the solar system has been erupting with unpredictable bright outbursts since late September and nobody knows why.

close-up of dust on the moon's surface with a bootprint visible at right

Missions to the moon: Past, present and future

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Reference More than 140 missions have launched to the moon. Here we explore some of the most notable missions and take a look at what the future holds.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of the interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov on Oct. 12, 2019.

How much of the solar system is made of interstellar stuff?

By Paul Sutter last updated

The detection of interstellar objects in the solar system has raised an interesting question: How much of the solar system is made of foreign material?

This still from a NASA animation depicts a comet as it enters the inner solar system, with light from the sun warming the comet to create its coma and tail.

Wild idea: Tagalong spacecraft could watch a comet form

By Mike Wall published

A few decades from now, humanity could get an up-close look at a comet blazing to life for the first time.