Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
The first spacecraft buzzed a comet today in 1985
Thirty years ago, a spacecraft became the first to fly past a comet.
- Planetary Science
New Pluto photos show unprecedented detail
New images from the New Horizons spacecraft show off Pluto and Charon in unprecedented detail.
- Planetary Science
Ceres’ mysterious bright spots come into focus
The Dawn spacecraft gets its best look yet at bright spots on Ceres.
- Planetary Science
The sad magnetic state of the solar system’s rocky worlds
While a strong magnetic shield protects Earth from the sun’s occasional outbursts, the solar system’s other rocky planets are mostly defenseless.
- Planetary Science
The wait for more Pluto data is almost over
As New Horizons prepares to tell us everything it learned about Pluto, fans of the dwarf planet take a crack at imagining what the spacecraft saw.
- Planetary Science
Life after Pluto: New Horizons to head for Kuiper belt boulder
The New Horizons spacecraft has a second target in the Kuiper belt: an icy boulder dubbed 2014 MU69.
- Planetary Science
Mountains, craters revealed in latest images of dwarf planet Ceres
The Dawn spacecraft sent back postcards from Ceres that show off the dwarf planet’s varied terrain.
- Planetary Science
Flyby of Dione yields stunning pictures of icy Saturn moon
Saturn’s moon Dione shows off its ripping landscapes during the Cassini spacecraft’s final flyby.
- Planetary Science
Comet 67P, Rosetta spacecraft cozy up to the sun
Comet 67P is shooting off brilliant jets of gas and dust as it swings in close to the sun, giving scientists clues to the space rocks chemical composition.
- Neuroscience
Shifting views of brain cells, and other fresh perspectives
The details emerging from the latest work on glial cells are sure to yield more insights as scientists continue their struggle to understand the mind.
- Planetary Science
New exoplanet: Big Earth or small Neptune?
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered a “cousin” of Earth 1,400 light-years away. But even though the new planet bears many similarities to Earth, experts say much about it remains a mystery.
- Planetary Science
Quest to trace origin of Earth’s water is ‘a complete mess’
Understanding the origin of Earth’s water is hard enough, and it’s made harder by not knowing where all that water is hiding.
