941–960 of 1,055 results

Exoplanets

Our "Goldilocks" Solar System

Think our planetary family is normal? Think again. It turns out that the Sun and its retinue formed when the interstellar mix was just right — not too much gas, not too little, and stirred gently for just the right amount of time.

Spacecraft and Space Missions

Titan Makes a Splash

It's not covered by a global ocean, as theorists once thought. But Saturn's big moon does sport pools of liquid ethane big enough to float anyone's boat.

Solar System

An Electrifying Whodunit

Thanks to a quintet of identical spacecraft, space physicists have settled a decades-old debate over what triggers violent electromagnetic substorms inside Earth's magnetosphere.

Solar System

Earth and Moon Dance for a Far Camera

From more than 30 million miles away, a NASA spacecraft snapped away as the Moon made a graceful pass in front of Earth's colorful disk.

Solar System

Make Way for Makemake

It took three years to settle on a name for the third-largest object in the Kuiper Belt.

Spacecraft and Space Missions

Mars's Ancient Water Works

New observations from a NASA orbiter reveal that water and rock freely mingled across (or under) much of the Red Planet's surface.

Solar System

Asteroids with Split Personalities

Where did the dozens of known binary asteroids come from? According to a new finding, sunlight alone can force a body to spin in such a frenzy that it literally flies apart.

Solar System

Water in Moon Dust Raises Questions

Traces of water recently found in glassy granules brought back 40 years ago by the Apollo 15 crew suggest scientists haven't quite figured out yet just how our Moon formed.

Spacecraft and Space Missions

SOHO Tallies Its 1500th Comet

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has now found more comets than all other comet discoverers put together — not bad for a spacecraft that was designed to study the Sun.

Spacecraft and Space Missions

Mercury: The Incredible Shrinking Planet

During its first flyby of Mercury, NASA"s Messenger spacecraft found much less iron on the planet’s surface than expected and a cloud of ionized atoms — including water — caught up in the planet’s magnetosphere. And that’s just for starters.

Solar System

Martian Dirt is Friendly to Life

The Phoenix lander's first wet chemical analysis of the Martian surface confirms water’s thumbprint and finds the kinds of inorganic minerals you'd have in a backyard garden.

Solar System

The Two Faces of Mars

Just about the time a Mars-size body creamed Earth with enough force to create the Moon, another big planetoid might have slammed into Mars itself. The result? A two-faced planet and the solar system's largest impact crater.

Saturn aurorae by Hubble

Solar System

The Mystery of Saturn’s Double Aurorae

New infrared observations reveal a second auroral ring on Saturn that may help astronomers understand what causes the planet's aurorae in the first place.

Ulysses spacecraft

Solar System

Ulysses' Space Odyssey Ends on July 1st

The only space mission ever to study the Sun’s poles directly will turn off at month’s end after a long life of trial and triumph.

Spacecraft and Space Missions

Moonlets Perturb Saturn’s Ring

New observations from Cassini show small satellites are responsible for Saturn's F ring looking a little frazzled.

Solar System

"Holy Cow!" — Phoenix Spots Ice

If the Phoenix lander hadn't been able to find ice on Mars within reach of its robotic arm, NASA scientists would have been majorly bummed. They needn't have worried.

Mars from Phoenix lander

Solar System

Is Mars Too Salty for Life?

A just-published study, coincidentally appearing as Phoenix prepares to get the dirt on Martian habitability, argues that the Red Planet's soil is at least 10 to 100 times saltier than Earth's oceans.

Solar System

Amateur Finds Fastest-Spinning Asteroid

While chasing near-Earth asteroid 2008 HJ with a remotely controlled telescope in Australia, Richard Miles made a record-setting discovery.

Solar System

Jupiter Sports a Third Red Spot

Jupiter's new spot may herald global climate change for the gas giant.

Solar System

Phoenix's Amazing Photo Finish

Whether by precise planning, good luck, or both, a high-power camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the Phoenix lander during its parachute descent with a menacing crater looming in the background.

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