Planetary Science

  1. Planetary Science

    Cosmic dust may create Mars’ wispy clouds

    Magnesium left by passing comets seeds the clouds of Mars, a new study suggests.

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  2. Planetary Science

    4 surprising things we just learned about Jupiter

    Polar cyclones, surprisingly deep atmosphere and a fluid mass spinning as a rigid body are among the latest discoveries at Jupiter.

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  3. Planetary Science

    How a vaporized Earth might have cooked up the moon

    A high-speed collision turned the early Earth into a hot, gooey space doughnut, and the moon formed within this synestia, a new simulation suggests.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Readers weigh in on human gene editing and more

    Readers debated feeling morally obligated to edit their kid's genes and had questions about exoplanets.

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  5. Planetary Science

    What will it take to go to Venus?

    Undeterred by funding woes, scientists are scraping together ideas to tackle heat, pressure and acidity challenges of landing on Venus.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Massive dust storms are robbing Mars of its water

    Mars was once lush with water. A new analysis of Martian climate data shows a mechanism that might have helped dehydrate the planet.

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  7. Planetary Science

    Shallow ice sheets discovered on Mars could aid future astronauts

    Exposed water ice on steep Martian slopes suggest there’s a lot within a meter or two of the surface.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Hubble telescope ramps up search for Europa’s watery plumes

    Astronomers are redoubling their efforts to confirm that the icy moon Europa spews water from its south pole.

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  9. Planetary Science

    How to keep humans from ruining the search for life on Mars

    As the race to put humans on Mars heats up, researchers worry they are running out of time to find life on the Red planet.

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  10. Planetary Science

    NASA is headed to Earth’s outermost edge

    NASA’s upcoming GOLD mission will study the charged border between Earth and space.

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  11. Astronomy

    Aliens ruled out for why Tabby’s star flickers

    The first real-time observations of Tabby’s star flickering put the final nail in the “alien megastructure” coffin.

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  12. Astronomy

    86 stars get official names

    The International Astronomical Union has released 86 newly official star names, based, in part, on historical star names from various indigenous cultures.

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