Planets

A Hubble Space Telescope portrait of Jupiter, captured in August 2019, shows the gas giant's cloud bands and storms in detail, including its iconic Great Red Spot.

Look Up for a Dazzling View of Jupiter This Weekend as It Shines Its Brightest of the Year

On December 7, the “king of planets” will line up with the Earth and sun in an event known as opposition. It will be visible all night and offer prime viewing, especially through binoculars or a telescope

Computer simulated global view of Venus' northern hemisphere. 

Did Venus Have Oceans? This Surprising New Study Suggests Not, a Theory That Could Upend the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

The astronomers behind the research looked to the output from the nearby planet's toxic volcanoes for clues

An artist's interpretation of the newly discovered planet and a warped debris disk

Astronomers Discover a 'Newborn' World, the Youngest Known Transiting Exoplanet

At nearly three million years old, the exoplanet is about the age of a two-week-old baby in planet-years

The book recently underwent a three-month conservation process.

A Rare Atlas of Astronomy From the Dutch Golden Age Goes on Display in England

The copy of "Harmonia Macrocosmica" dates back to the 17th century and includes ancient theories of the universe

The Super Hunter's Moon of October 2024 rises over a headland near Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

See the Full Beaver Moon on Friday, the Last Dazzling Supermoon of 2024

November's spectacle closes out a series of four big and bright full moons that have captivated sky watchers since late summer

In 1986, Voyager 2 took this image of Uranus during its flyby.

Voyager 2 Measured a Rare Anomaly When It Flew Past Uranus, Skewing Our Knowledge of the Planet for 40 Years, Study Suggests

The roughly six-hour flyby in 1986 revealed Uranus' protective magnetic field was strangely empty. Now, researchers say that the data could have been affected by a solar wind event

Image captured by Juno during its 66th perijove, then further processed with color enhancement by Gerald Eichstädt and Thomas Thomopoulos.

Check Out the Stunning New Images of Jupiter From NASA's Juno Spacecraft

On its 66th flyby of the king of planets, Juno has captured spectacular views of the stormy atmosphere, processed by citizen scientists

A photo of Neptune, taken by the Voyager 2 probe, with the colors rebalanced to represent its truest appearance

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made About Neptune

Despite the lack of a dedicated mission to the planet, scientists have learned plenty through ground observations and space telescopes

A color-enhanced photo of Pluto that was captured by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made About Pluto

Though technically not a planet, it has as rich geology as any of its planetary siblings in the solar system

A full moon rises in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The full moon this week is the closest one of the year.

See the Super Hunter's Moon Tonight, the Biggest and Brightest Full Moon of the Year

This week's supermoon is closer to Earth than any other in 2024

An artist’s depiction of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft

NASA Launches Europa Clipper to Search for Signs of Life on Jupiter’s Moon

The huge spacecraft is headed toward the icy moon Europa, where it will use an array of instruments to survey for geologic activity, magnetism and more

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this image of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from the International Space Station, when the comet was 99.4 million miles away on September 22, 2024.

How to See the Bright Comet Flaring Up in the Night Sky This Week

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS should be visible to the naked eye as it passes Earth on its way out of our solar system

An illustration of the newly detected exoplanet Barnard b, with the red dwarf Barnard's star in the background.

Astronomers Discover a Small Exoplanet That's Our Cosmic Neighbor at Just Six Light-Years Away

Orbiting Barnard's star, the nearest solo star to Earth, the world is too hot to be habitable—a scorching 257 degrees Fahrenheit

A sea turtle swims in a coral reef in Hawaii. Ocean acidification, found to be on the brink of crossing a boundary into higher-risk territory, can affect coral skeleton formation.

Earth Is on the Brink of Breaching a Seventh of Nine 'Planetary Boundaries' That Support Life

A new “health check” for our planet sounds an alarm bell on rising ocean acidification, which is driven by carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere

An illustration of an asteroid and the moon orbiting Earth.

Earth Is Getting a New 'Mini Moon' for the Next Two Months, Astronomers Say

A roughly 33-foot-long asteroid called 2024 PT5 will chart a horseshoe-like path around our planet

Saturn, the second-largest planet in our solar system, is best known for its layered rings.

The Seven Most Interesting Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Saturn

Scientists continue to learn new things about the planet, its sweeping rings and its many moons

Venus, seen in three views as it approaches a conjunction with Earth and the sun, won the planets, comets and asteroids category.

See 11 Breathtaking Space Images From the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest

From a solar eclipse to a dolphin-like nebula, these winning shots by astrophotographers from around the world depict the cosmos in sharp detail

The spacecraft offered a clear view of Mercury's south pole while completing its fourth of six flybys.

See New Detailed Photos of Mercury From a Spacecraft's Closest Flyby Yet

BepiColombo, a joint European-Japanese mission, completed its fourth close pass of the innermost planet last week, and it will enter Mercury’s orbit in 2026 to learn more about its mysteries

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and is even wider than the planet Mercury.

An Ancient Asteroid Smashed Into Jupiter's Moon Ganymede and Tipped It Over, Study Finds

The cataclysmic impactor was 20 times the size of the rock that wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth

An artist's rendition of a magma ocean on a volcanic planet. Scientists have theorized that our moon was covered in a magma ocean for millions of years after it formed.

Our Moon Was Likely Covered in a Magma Ocean Long Ago, and New Data From India's Lunar Rover Supports That Theory

Soil composition measurements from the Chandrayaan-3 mission reveal white rock called ferroan anorthosite, which would have floated to the surface in an ocean of magma

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