WISPR view vs. Magellan radar

Solar System

The Parker Solar Probe Captures Surprising Images of Venus Nightside

A visible glow from our sister planet’s nightside sheds new light on a 300-year-old observing enigma dubbed the “ashen light.”

solar flare

Solar System

Solar Tsunami Hit Earth 9,200 Years Ago

Scientists examining ancient ice cores have found radioactive evidence of an extreme solar storm that took place in 7,176 BCE.

View of Gale Crater from top of pediment

Solar System

Evidence Hints at Ancient Life on Mars

Scientists have found a chemical signature that hints at ancient life on Mars. But other possible explanations remain.

Enceladus's plumes

Solar System

Do the Plumes from Saturn’s Icy Moon Reach Down to Its Ocean?

The plumes erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus may originate in slush in the moon's icy crust rather than its deep, subsurface ocean.

Twisted glass slab

Astronomy and Society

Did a Comet Explode Over South America 12,000 Years Ago?

Huge chunks and twisted slabs of dark glass are strewn across a patch of the Chilean Atacama Desert. Do they have a cosmic origin?

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