Planets

Raw image of the storm on Saturn's north pole

Cassini Sends Back First Images From Its Saturn Dives

The stream of raw images include new pictures of the strange hexagonal storm swirling around its north pole

An artist's rendering imagines what Cassini must have looked like as it headed on the first of a series of orbits between Saturn and its rings.

Cassini Makes a Daring Dive

The spacecraft is out of contact as it begins a series of dramatic orbits between Saturn and its rings

What's the Difference Between Horns and Antlers and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

An illustration of LHS 1140b orbiting its faint red star

Exoplanet Discovery Arrives in Time for New Telescope Technology

Astronomers call LHS 1140b one of the "best targets" for hunting liquid water with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

Artist's rendering of what DeeDee may look like

Meet DeeDee, the Solar System's Newest Dwarf Planet (Maybe)

Though the tiny icy orb meets all the criteria, it has yet to receive the official designation

This snapshot shows Jupiter's swirling, banded atmosphere and signature vortices.

“Great Cold Spot” Discovered on Jupiter

The ancient storm was hiding in plain sight

Uranus and its aurora

Take a Peek at the Auroras on Uranus

This composite image gives the best view yet of the seventh planet's atmospheric lights and ring

This snapshot shows Jupiter's swirling, banded atmosphere and signature vortices.

Hubble Snags Splendid Snapshot of Jupiter

The perfect photographic conditions make for a grand view of the gas giant

The view from GJ 1132b

Atmosphere Detected Around an Earth(ish)-Sized Planet

Just 39 light years away, GJ 1132b is 1.4 times the Earth's radius and has an atmosphere that may be composed of steam or methane

The latest iteration of the four-legged LEMUR exploration robot clings to a test rock surface in Aaron Parness’ lab in a recent test of its microspine capabilities.

A New Generation of Interplanetary Rovers Is Crawling Toward the Stars

These four-legged, wheel-less robots will explore asteroids and the frigid outer worlds of our Solar System

What a ring around Mars may have looked like

Mars May Have Had a Ring in the Past and Could Have One in the Future

The red planet's moon may have broken apart into a ring of debris and reformed several times over the planet's history

Shortly after the announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 system, NASA crowdsourced its Twitter followers for possible planet names. The actual process of naming new planets, however, is a bit more involved.

How Do New Planets Get Their Names?

Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines

Computer-simulated global view of Venus.

The Case for Going to Venus

Sending a probe to Earth’s lifeless twin could help us understand how life rises—and falls—on faraway planets

The little moon has drawn comparisons to ravioli, empanadas, and hamburger.

One of Saturn's Moons is Making Astronomers Hungry

New images of the tiny moon are drawing comparisons to a ravioli, empanadas, walnuts, hamburgers...nom, nom, nom

Pluto and its moon Charon

New Definition Would Make the Moon and Pluto Planets

A suggested update to the International Astronomical Union criteria would add over 100 planets to the solar system

Artists rendering of the suspected Planet 9

NASA Wants the Public to Log In to Help Find Planet 9

Citizen scientists can examine photos to help discover a new planet, which recent evidence suggests is hiding at the edge of the solar system

What thorny ethical issues await us once we make it to Mars? A composite image of the red planet, composed by processing about 1000 Viking Orbiter red- and violet-filter images have been to provide global color coverage at a scale of 1 km/pixel.

When Humans Begin Colonizing Other Planets, Who Should Be in Charge?

The biggest threat humans pose to other worlds is what we don’t know—or what we think we know, but don’t

The seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.

Scientists Spot Seven Earth-Sized Planets Orbiting a Nearby Star

This newly discovered solar system presents the best opportunity yet to study potentially habitable worlds, NASA scientists report

British statesman and author Winston Churchill reads correspondence at his desk in 1933.

“Are We Alone in the Universe?” Winston Churchill's Lost Extraterrestrial Essay Says No

The famed British statesman approached the question of alien life with a scientist's mind

This image shows a region in Saturn's outer B ring. NASA's Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. And from this view, it is clear that there are still finer details to uncover. Researchers have yet to determine what generated the rich structure seen in this view, but they hope detailed images like this will help them unravel the mystery.

NASA Releases Spectacular New Snapshots of Saturn’s Rings

Millions of moonlets appear to be tucked inside the debris that famously circles the planet

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