Planetary Science

Planetary Science

Pluto probe wakes up one last time

The New Horizons probe will remain active for the remainder of its journey to Pluto.

Planetary Science

Ancient moon’s mega magnetic field explained

Apollo-era moon rocks reveal ancient lunar magnetic field was at least as powerful as the one surrounding modern Earth.

Planetary Science

Preparing for disaster, celebrating success

Science cannot prevent all disasters or solve all the problems they spawn, but it can point to the best ways to prepare, making disasters less damaging than they might otherwise be

Planetary Science

Comet lander’s exploration cut short

The comet lander Philae made history with its touchdown on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, but a series of small hiccups prevented the robot from recharging its batteries, giving it only about 57 hours to explore the alien world.

Planetary Science

Setting sights on Mars — a half-century ago

Fifty years ago, the United States turned its eyes toward Mars and set a goal of sending humans as soon as possible.

Planetary Science

Planets stake their claim around infant star

At the center of the newly released telescope image is HL Tau, a star located about 450 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. A dense disk of gas and dust surrounds the star, which is a youthful million years old.

Planetary Science

Philae lander sent in a surprise before going to sleep

The robotic probe that landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has beamed back some surprises about the icy boulder.

Planetary Science

Cassini maps depths of Titan’s seas

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft finds that some methane seas on Titan extend more than 200 meters beneath the Saturnian moon’s surface.

Planetary Science

Unseen planets sweep up dust around young star

A large gap in the dusty disk around a young star reveals what our solar system might have looked like 4.6 billion years ago.

Astronomy

Good night, Philae

The Philae lander has depleted its batteries and gone into idle mode, probably drawing to a close the surface-based study of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Planetary Science

Two travelers from far beyond Neptune return home

Two bodies approaching from the edge of the solar system may have been tossed out there by Jupiter over 4 billion years ago.

Planetary Science

A distant planet may lurk far beyond Neptune

Strange orbits in the Kuiper belt revive talk of a Planet X in the solar system.