Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Titan’s oddly thick atmosphere may come from cooked organic compounds
Saturn’s moon Titan might get some of its hazy atmosphere by baking organic molecules in a warm core.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover weighed the mountain it’s climbing
Curiosity measures gravity as it drives, allowing scientists to weigh Mount Sharp and determine that the rock is less dense than expected.
- Planetary Science
The latest picture of Ultima Thule reveals a remarkably smooth face
Kuiper Belt object MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule, is largely unmarred by impact craters, suggesting the Kuiper Belt might lack small objects.
- Planetary Science
We spent New Year’s Eve in the Kuiper Belt
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses Science News' coverage of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of Ultima Thule.
- Planetary Science
Ring ripples reveal how long a day lasts on Saturn
Clues in Saturn’s rings divulge the planet’s rotation rate: 10 hours, 33 minutes, 38 seconds.
- Planetary Science
The moon’s craters suggest Earth hasn’t erased lots of past impacts
A new look at moon craters suggests the Earth and moon suffered more impacts in the last 290 million years, and the Earth retains its biggest scars.
- Planetary Science
Two daring spacecraft aim to bring asteroid dust back to Earth
A pair of daredevil spacecraft that aim to bring asteroid dust back to Earth have reached their targets and are scouting for the best sampling spots.
- Planetary Science
China just landed the first spacecraft on the moon’s farside
China’s Chang’e-4 lander and rover just became the first spacecraft to land on the farside of the moon.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons shows Ultima Thule looks like a snowman, or maybe BB-8
Ultima Thule’s snowmanlike shape shows the New Horizons target was probably two space rocks that got stuck together.
- Planetary Science
Live updates: New Horizons’ flyby of a distant Kuiper Belt object
The New Horizons spacecraft is ready for the most distant close flyby of a rocky object in the solar system, a rocky body called MU69 or Ultima Thule.
- Space
The sugar that makes up DNA could be made in space
Deoxyribose, the sugar of DNA, was created in a lab simulating ice in space.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons gears up for its close encounter with Ultima Thule
On January 1, the New Horizons spacecraft will fly by Ultima Thule, the first small Kuiper Belt object ever to get a close visitor.
