1–20 of 1,103 results

Solar System

Webb Telescope Reveals Worlds in the Farthest Reaches of the Solar System

James Webb Space Telescope data on distant worlds confirm some solar system formation hypotheses and confuse others.

Betelgeuse close-up

Explore the Night with Bob King

Is Betelgeuse Fading Again?

Betelgeuse has dipped nearly half a magnitude since late January. Could it be headed for another Great Dimming Event? We also take a look at this spring's "other" eclipse.

Phobos over Mars

Solar System

Icy Impactor Might Explain the Formation of Mars’s Moons

In a new study, scientists suggest an impact with a giant icy object could explain the formation of Mars's moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Uranus and Neptune

Solar System

Astronomers Find New Moons of Uranus and Neptune

The three new moons for Uranus and Neptune are each part of a "family," groupings that fragmented from a single parent object.

Impact simulation frame

Solar System

NASA's DART Impact Reshaped the Asteroid Dimorphos

Models of the NASA's DART impact reshaping the asteroid moon Dimorphos show that this object is "rubble all the way down."

Makemake and its moon artwork

Solar System

Webb Telescope Spies Hints That Solar System's Outskirts Are a Hotbed of Activity

The James Webb Space Telescope has found that distant dwarf planets might be methane factories.

Solar system poster points out a

Solar System

How Venus Ended Up with a Mini-Moon Named Zoozve

A quasi-satellite of Venus has just received an unusual name.

Mimas appears like the Death Star

Solar System

Does Saturn's "Death Star" Moon Harbor an Ocean?

New evidence, based off of NASA's Cassini measurements of Mimas's orbit, suggests the icy "Death Star" moon might have a subsurface ocean.

Detailed image shows volcanoes on Io's surface

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

NASA's Juno Mission Makes Closest Flyby Past Io

Juno has revealed Jupiter's volcanic moon Io as never before.

12P/Pons-Brooks with tail

Explore the Night with Bob King

The Best Comets to Look for in 2024

If you like chasing comets, here's a guide to the year's best and brightest.

Berlin fall fragment

Asteroids

Asteroid 2024 BX1: From a Light in the Sky to Rocks on the Ground

The asteroid 2024 BX1 went from a moving dot of light to rocks on the ground in mere hours — and amateur astronomers were critical to both discovery and recovery.

Titan art

Solar System

Methane Icebergs Could Float in Titan’s Seas

The “magic islands” that appear and disappear in Titan’s methane-ethane seas could be hydrocarbon icebergs, a new study finds.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune in near-infrared

Solar System

The Webb Telescope's Grand Tour of the Solar System

The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed galaxies in the early universe, hidden star formation, and sniffed the atmospheres of exoplanets. But it's also exploring closer to home, imaging each of the giant planets in detail. The telescope can see aspects of the planets' compositions in ways that passing satellites…

NEOWise

Solar System

As an Asteroid-Hunting Mission Approaches Its End, What's Next?

The pioneering NEOWISE observatory celebrates a milestone, even as the end of the mission draws near.

Vesta and Orion

Explore the Night with Bob King

Vesta Sets Sail Across Orion

Look who's visiting this winter in Orion: Vesta, a bright asteroid with a dark side.

Geminids 2020

Explore the Night with Bob King

Get Ready to Greet the Geminid Meteor Shower!

The year's most spectacular meteor shower is upon us. Prepare to enjoy the Geminids under a dark, moonless sky, when you might see more than 100 meteors per hour.

Diagram of buried polygon-shaped regions

Solar System

Buried Polygons on Mars Point to “Stark Environmental Transition”

Polygons buried beneath the surface of Mars indicate an abrupt transition in the planet's early history.

Crater-covered rocky object in foreground, two thin rings stripe diagonally down in background, behind them the sun

Solar System

The Comet-Asteroid Chiron Has Rings — And They're Changing

A series of stellar occultations has provided evidence that the ring system around this strange object is evolving drastically.

Slanted shot shows black space over the gray, cratered horizon of Mercury

Solar System

Do Glaciers on Mercury Suggest Such a Planet Could Be Habitable?

Salt glaciers on Mercury suggest conditions friendly to life — but not life itself — might once have existed on the innermost planet.

First look at Dinkinesh and its satellite

Solar System

Amateur Astronomers Discover an Asteroid’s Moon

The small object orbiting around main-belt asteroid 5457 Queen’s is the second confirmed asteroid moon discovered during a stellar occultation.

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