Solar System

Future Planetary Probes Can Learn from Cassini

An unusual water composition at Saturn’s moon Phoebe means that future spacecraft will have to be on the lookout for different water ratios than we are used to on Earth.

Solar System

Amateurs Help Decide Juno's Path

Ahead of a decision on whether to fly the NASA spacecraft over Jupiter's Great Red Spot, hobbyists back on Earth provided crucial intel about the effects of an intruding disturbance.

Image of Bennu

Solar System

Osiris-REX Finds Hints of Past Water on Asteroid Bennu

The NASA spacecraft detected signs of hydrated minerals on Bennu's surface, suggesting that the asteroid's larger parent body once hosted liquid water.

Solar System

Voyager 2 Enters Interstellar Space

More than 18 billion kilometers from home, Voyager 2 has become the second probe to break through the heliopause, a tenuous boundary between the solar system and the rest of the Galaxy.

Comet Triple Crown

Solar System

Comet 46P/Wirtanen Approaches Earth

On December 16th, the comet will pass within 12 million kilometers of Earth and should brighten to about 3rd magnitude, though the diffuse coma and a nearly full Moon will make observations difficult.

Image of Martian dust storm

Solar System

Dust Storm Electricity Might Forge Perchlorates on Mars

Electrostatic discharge in a simulated dusty Martian environment yields perchlorates — a potential energy source for microbial life — at abundances 1,000 times greater than sunlight alone.

Dawn at Ceres

Solar System

Dusk for Dawn: NASA's Groundbreaking Mission Comes to an End

After 11 Years, NASA's Dawn mission to explore Vesta and Ceres is about to come to an end.

Saturn's moons

Solar System

Saturn's Moon Dione Has Some Weird Stripes

Long straight parallel lines on the satellite's surface could be droppings from Saturn's rings, one of the moons, or a passing comet, researchers suggest.

Illustration of Jupiter Trojans

Solar System

Trojan Asteroids Are in a Class of Their Own

Hordes of debris trapped by Jupiter and Neptune have distinct colors that mark them as possibly the last remnants of the material that built the giant planets.

water plume on Europa

Solar System

Source for Europa Geysers Missing

A new look at old data suggests there’s something missing from suspected plumes on Europa: a heat source.

MASCOT

Solar System

MASCOT Deploys from Hayabusa-2, Lands on Ryugu

The boxy robotic lander MASCOT delivered photos and other data from asteroid Ryugu during a brief 17-hour stay on the asteroid's surface.

Cassini at Saturn

Solar System

Four Things We Now Know About Saturn

Cassini gave an epic final show, going where no space probe had gone before. Here are a few interesting things we learned from that finale.

Infrared mosaic of Titan

Solar System

Titan Dust Storms Pose Challenges for Future Spacecraft

Future missions to Saturn's moon Titan may have to contend with blowing particles and higher-than-expected winds from recently discovered dust storms.

Illustration of Planet Nine

Solar System

New Object Found in Far Outer Solar System

Astronomers have discovered a object—2015 TG387—that could help in the hunt for a hypothesized Planet Nine in the distant reaches of the solar system.

Illustration of dust storms on Titan

Solar System

60-Second Astro News: Dust Storms on Titan, Origin of Phobos

In astronomy news this week: Dust storms are seen blowing around Titan for the first time, and new clues from old data suggest that an impact on Mars gave birth to Phobos.

Portrayal of 'Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1)

Solar System

'Oumuamua’s Story Keeps Spinning

Two new studies question the cometary nature of 'Oumuamua, our first interstellar visitor, and where in the Galaxy it might have come from.

Hayabusa 2 shadow

Solar System

Touchdown: Hayabusa 2 Deploys Rovers to Explore Ryugu

The Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft dispatched the first of a set of smaller missions that will explore asteroid 162173 Ryugu.

Ahuna Mons

Solar System

Dawn Probes Role of Cryovolcanism on Ceres

A recent analysis of data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft reveals the role of cryovolcanism past — and likely present — on the giant asteroid Ceres.

Saturn's hexagon

Solar System

NASA's Cassini Sees Saturn's Towering Polar Hexagon

Cassini's legacy sheds more light on the strange mystery of Saturn's northern polar hexagon.

Jupiter, color-enhanced

Solar System

Jupiter’s Magnetic Field Has Weird Structure

Juno observations reveal that Jupiter’s magnetic field has a wacky plume.