SUNSET: 
The Sun Has Nothing to Hide
For the first time, scientists can examine the front and back sides of our star at the same time, thanks to a pair of distant Sun-watching spacecraft.
Jupiter Swallows an Asteroid
Some careful spectroscopic detective work has led astronomers to conclude that a cruise-ship-size asteroid — not a small comet — smacked into the king of planets in July 2009.
Thunderstorms That Shoot Antimatter
The Fermi satellite was launched to observe gamma rays coming from the distant universe. It has also found positrons coming from below.
SOHO: World's Greatest Comet Finder
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, a spacecraft that's spent 15 years staring at the Sun, recently recorded its 2,000th comet.
The Strange Tails of Asteroid Scheila
What caused a largish, well-behaved main-belt asteroid to suddenly brighten and spew a cloud of debris into space?
Making Sense of Saturn's Rings
Did a doomed moon the size of Titan edge too close to Saturn, break apart, and give the planet its resplendent ring system?
Japan's Akatsuki Goes AWOL
A spacecraft that was supposed to slip into orbit around Venus for a two-year study of its atmosphere has instead flown right by — and won't be back for another 7 years.
Comet Hartley 2: Full of Surprises
During a brief flyby just two weeks ago, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft revealed never-before-seen details about dynamic Comet Hartley 2 that have left mission scientists elated — and confused.
Hayabusa Brings Home Asteroid Dust
It's a fairy-tale ending to an against-all-odds story: Japanese scientists have identified bits of asteroid dust inside the sample canister of a spacecraft that, somehow, made it back to Earth seven years after launch.
Eris Gets Dwarfed (Is Pluto Bigger?)
On November 6th, it only took 76 seconds for astronomers to realize that the distant dwarf planet Eris is substantially smaller than thought — and now might even be a bit smaller than Pluto.
Mr. Hartley's Amazing Comet
For the fifth time, a spacecraft has revealed close-up images of a comet's nucleus. Comet Hartley 2 is perhaps the wildest and most dramatic of them all.
Our "New, Improved" Solar System
Recent computer models suggest a radical yet robust concept: in order to get the Sun's planets and asteroids arranged as they are today, Jupiter must have once been much closer to the Sun.
Crash Scene in the Asteroid Belt
What exactly created the "comet" designated P/2010 A2? Two sets of observations argue that two small asteroids must have collided in early 2009.
Seeing Double, 30 Years Later
On October 10, 1980, two amateur astronomers saw evidence for a satellite around asteroid 216 Kleopatra. Few believed them — but they got the last laugh.
Titan's Hazes: A Rich Brew
With a little help from neighboring Enceladus, Saturn's big moon Titan might well be cooking up an incredible mix of prebiotic molecules in its upper atmosphere.
Last Call for Martian Volcanism
Hopeful geologists have pored over thousands of spacecraft images looking for fresh eruptions on Mars, but they've come up empty.
Sun's Heliopause: A Moving Target
A NASA spacecraft has found the collision of the Sun's magnetic bubble with interstellar space is more varied and dynamic than anyone had imagined.
Phobos: A Chip Off of Mars?
New results from the European spacecraft Mars Express suggest that the Martian moon Phobos has a lot in common with the planet it orbits.
The Moon Through LRO's Eyes
For the past year, the seven instruments on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have mapped the Moon up, down, and sideways — and planetary scientists are reaping the results.
The Dinosaurs Got a Warning Shot
New research shows that eastern Europe took a hit just 2,000 to 5,000 years before the Big One nearly wiped out life on Earth 65 million years ago.
