Solar System

Scientist know that Venus' surface, depicted here based on radar data, was shaped by volcanoes, and a new study suggests they may still be active.

Venus (Probably) Has Active Volcanoes

And they’re (probably) erupting!

A mosaic image shows magnetic activity on the solar disk, which is surrounded by the relatively faint corona.

A "Mangrove Forest" of Magnetism May Help Heat the Sun's Corona

New simulations might explain why the sun's atmosphere is bizarrely millions of degrees hotter than its surface

An artist's rendering of the Pluto system seen from the surface of one of its moons.

Weird Orbital Behaviors Offer Clues to the Origins of Pluto's Moons

Solving the mystery of these satellites could help astronomers understand "Tatooine" exoplanets that orbit binary stars

The dark gray object lurking above the Herschel crater on Mars is the Martian moon Phobos, as seen by the Viking Orbiter 1 in 1977

Did Mars Steal its Moons From the Asteroid Belt?

Scientists still aren’t sure where the odd little moons came from, but they have ideas

There Might Really Be a Planet X, Lurking Beyond Pluto

The far reaches of our own solar system could contain worlds undiscovered.

Jupiter with moons Io and Europa as seen by the Voyager I probe

Jupiter Made Our Solar System Weird

The gas giant just had to throw its mass around

An artist's rendition of Pluto's surface.

Make Your Mark on Pluto by Helping Name Its Features

The New Horizons team is asking the public for help labeling the maps of Pluto and one of its moons

A mosaic of Enceladus collected by Cassini showing deep fissures or sulci

A Hint That a Saturnian Moon Could Have Hydrothermal Vents—And Support Life

Grains of silica from Saturn’s magnetosphere likely came from Enceladus and may mean the moon has hydrothermal vents

An artist’s interpretation of an object slamming into the early Earth

Metal Rain Could Explain Why the Earth Made of Different Stuff Than the Moon

A new study shows that iron-rich asteroids could have vaporized when they hit the early Earth

Two spots shine like beacons from the dwarf planet Ceres

The Dawn Spacecraft Is About to Reach Its Next Destination—the Dwarf Planet Ceres

We might just learn what the mysterious bright spots on the dwarf planet are—and much more

A happy solar system stays in orbit around the Sun

If the Earth’s Orbit Stopped We Would Have About A Month To Contemplate Our Doom

Fortunately, this is just a thought experiment

A composite image made in Payson, Arizona, on December 28 shows Comet Lovejoy as it seemed to pass a globular cluster of stars called Messier 79.

How to See This Green Comet With the Naked Eye

The "New Year's Comet" is taking astronomers by storm with an unexpected showing, and it should only get brighter through early January

Curiosity is able to take pictures of itself on Mars using a camera mounted to its robotic arm. This mosaic was made from 55 snapshots taken in October 2012.

An Insider's Biography of a Celebrity Mars Rover

The chief engineer for Curiosity offers a peek at the NASA rover’s tumultuous rise to stardom in a new tell-all book

This Weekend, Astronomers Get Their Best Ever Look at an Oort Cloud Object

Looking at the Oort cloud is like looking back in time—a superpower hampered by the fact that the Oort cloud is very, very, very, very far away

Curtains of light weave across the sky over Fairbanks, Alaska, on September 12.

Powerful Solar Flare Paints the Sky With Candy-Colored Auroras

Two back-to-back flares sent clouds of charged particles racing toward Earth, creating auroras that may last through the weekend

The full moon is seen near Earth's horizon from the International Space Station.

Earth Is Making the Moon All Warm and Soft on the Inside

A new model boosts the notion that a layer of rock near the moon’s core is squishy and perhaps partially melted

A statue in front of the Holy Cross church in Warsaw, Poland, guides viewers toward the August 2014 supermoon.

Inspiring Photos of the Biggest, Brightest Supermoon of 2014

Feast your eyes on these snapshots from around the world

Titan’s Ocean Might Be as Salty as the Dead Sea

New data from the Cassini mission shows that the ocean under Titan's ice shell is likely very salty

Flatten Out the Moons and Planets, And You Can See Just How Big Earth Actually Is

Comparing their surface areas side-by-side gives a sense of scale to some of the solar system's inhabitants

The Sun Is Spraying Water Into Space

When the solar wind hits oxygen-rich rocks, water can form

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