
Explore the Night with Bob King
Venus and Mars Kiss at Dawn
Be sure to set the alarm so you don't miss the squeaky-tight conjunction of Venus and Mars Thursday morning. They'll stay close through the weekend.

Curiosity Rover Watches Clouds on Mars
Barely visible water-ice clouds coast across Mars’s skies in new videos from the Curiosity rover.

How Hard Did It Rain on Ancient Mars?
Mars was once far wetter than it is now — but just how much rain fell, and when?

Mars Lost Atmosphere to Space
NASA’s MAVEN mission has confirmed that the solar wind stripped the Red Planet of its atmosphere.

Mars Meets Neptune on New Year's Eve
Doing anything on New Year's Eve? Before you start toasting, don't miss an exceptionally close conjunction of Mars and Neptune.

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Gets to Work
Welcome to Mars: the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter sets up shop around the Red Planet.

ESA's Schiaparelli Lander: Missing in Action
Here's what we know so far about the fate European Space Agency's Schiaparelli mission.

Schiaparelli Lander to Touch Down on Mars
The innovative joint European Space Agency/Roscosmos Schiaparelli lander begins its three day solo journey to the Martian surface this weekend.

Saturn's Splendid Summer Show
It's showtime for the King of the Rings! Time to get your telescope out to see and share Saturn, which comes to opposition this week.

Explore the Night with Bob King
Follow Mars to His Double Star Lair
Let Mars be your guide to no fewer than 15 diverse and delightful double stars that pepper its path through Scorpius and Libra this opposition season.

Mars Opposition: Best Showing in a Decade
At last, a fine Mars apparition: on May 22nd the Red Planet reaches opposition, shining almost as bright as Jupiter, and the planet makes its closest approach to Earth on May 30th.

Mars Gravity Map
By tracking deviations in spacecraft orbits, planetary scientists have created a high-resolution map of the Red Planet's gravitational pull.

NASA's Plans for Putting Humans on Mars
Scientists and engineers gathered together to figure out what would make a good Martian landing site and what hurdles they’ll have to overcome for a 2035 launch.

Mars Losing Gas to Solar Wind
NASA’s Mars orbiter MAVEN has painted a detailed picture of how the solar wind robs the Red Planet of its atmosphere.

Waterlogged Salts on Mars
Scientists have confirmed that water-soaked salts likely create dark seasonal lines on Mars.

The Glint of Martian Glass
Scientists have detected glass in Martian craters, created by the fierce heat of impacts that melted the Red Planet’s surface.

MAVEN Spots Dust Cloud, Aurora on Mars
NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft has detected dust high in Mars’s atmosphere and auroras across the planet’s northern hemisphere.

Curiosity Studies Mars Dry-out
Samples taken from two drill holes on Mars support the idea that Mars lost a whole lot of water fairly early in its history.

Curiosity Finds Methane, Other Organics
NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected both methane in Mars’s atmosphere and carbon-bearing organic compounds in its rocks. But it’s unclear where these molecules come from — or whether there’s any biological connection.

MAVEN Finds New Particles, Ion Plume
NASA’s MAVEN mission has discovered a new population of particles in Mars’s upper atmosphere. It’s also found a plume of particles escaping from the planet’s poles, confirming atmospheric loss is happening today.