821–840 of 1,246 results
Portrayal of two planets colliding

Solar System

Is Mercury a Hit-and-Run Survivor?

How did the the innermost planet get its huge iron core? New computer modeling suggests that Mercury is a lucky survivor of chaotic primordial smashups.

Paths of Ceres and Vesta

Solar System

Super-close Pairing of Ceres and Vesta

Two bright asteroids now appear extremely close to one another in the evening sky. Here's how to spot them in binoculars or a small telescope.

Rosetta's comet without coma

Solar System

Rosetta's Comet Sleeps Again

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko only woke briefly before starting another nap, expected on-again-off-again behavior that bodes well for the comet-chasing spacecraft's arrival in August 2014.

Solar System

Titan Sheds Light on Alien Atmospheres

Saturn’s largest moon Titan played a cameo as an exoplanet, allowing astronomers to better understand how a thick layer of haze or clouds might affect their observations of more distant alien worlds.

Titan lakeshore closeup

Solar System

Sea Changes on Saturnian Moon

Fleeting radar features in a sea in Titan’s northern hemisphere are a tantalizing possibility of seasonal changes.

Two planets colliding

Solar System

Three New Findings About the Moon

Researchers have announced interesting news concerning the Moon, especially about how and when it formed, and why the "Man in the Moon" constantly stares at us whenever the lunar disk is fully lit.

Comet-chasing spacecraft ISEE 3

Solar System

35-year-old ISEE 3 Craft Phones Home

Although its scientific work for NASA ended in the early 1980s, the International Sun-Earth Explorer never quite died — and this week it was revived by a team of volunteers intent on letting it continue exploring interplanetary space.

Closeup of Martian double crater

Solar System

New, Intriguing Double Martian Crater

A small asteroid slammed into the Martian surface sometime between March 27 and 28, 2012, creating a crater swarm in the ground. The largest pit is 159 feet across.

Comet with cluster M107

Solar System

Rosetta's Comet Awakens

The Rosetta spacecraft took these images of Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko as it approaches the nucleus. It'll launch its lander, Philae, in November onto the nucleus's surface.

Solar System

Drama at Saturn: The Birth (or Demise) of a Moonlet?

New images from NASA’s Cassini mission show bright spots along Saturn’s A ring, likely caused by a small moonlet in the process of forming or shattering.

http://sites.agu.org/newsroom/files/2014/04/14-20-combo-graphic-2000-pixels.jpg

Solar System

An Asteroid to Rule Them All

Scientists have new insight into the damage caused by a Rhode Island–size asteroid that hit Earth more than 3 billion years ago, making the rock that wiped out the dinosaurs look like a lightweight.

LADEE over the Moon

Solar System

LADEE Skims the Moon Before Crash

NASA has a fully functioning spacecraft orbiting the Moon, all science goals completed, and a lunar eclipse coming up. It's a perfect opportunity to make some risky but potentially rewarding swoops within 2 miles of the lunar surface.

Solar System

The Subsurface Ocean of Enceladus

Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have provided further evidence that Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus harbors a liquid ocean under its surface.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2013/12/Rosetta_and_Philae_at_comet

Solar System

Rosetta Spots Its Comet

The European Space Agency’s comet-chasing spacecraft has imaged its destination for the first time since waking up from 957 days of hibernation.

Solar System

Chariklo: An Asteroid with Rings

An international team of observers has made the surprising discovery that a distant asteroid has two distinct, dense rings.

Orbits of 2012 VP113 and Sedna

Solar System

New Object Offers Hint of "Planet X"

Astronomers have kicked around the idea of a distant "Planet X" for decades. But the recent discovery of 2012 VP<sub>113</sub>, located in an orbital "no man's land" roughly twice as far away as Pluto, has stoked the possibility that it really exists.

Solar System

Active Volcanoes on Venus?

New images of Venus show features that look like hot spots, hinting there may be active volcanoes on the planet today.

http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/uploads/gigapan_small_str01.serendipityThumb.png

Solar System

Interactive Mosaic of Moon's North Pole

With the first interactive lunar north pole mosaic released by the NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team you can explore an area of the Moon’s northern hemisphere about the size of Alaska and Texas combined.

Victoria Rupes on Mercury

Solar System

The Incredible, Shrinking Mercury

Now that they've seen all of the innermost planet up close, geologists realize that Mercury's crust buckled and fractured as the planet cooled and shrank far more than previously measured.

Mojave crater on Mars

Solar System

Source Crater for Martian Meteorites?

A team of European researchers believe that a big, fresh-looking crater on Mars is the likely launch pad for many of the Martian meteorites found on Earth.