Planetary Science
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- Earth
The Hunt for Habitable Planets
Here and now, a new suite of small telescopes are poised to look for Earthlike planets beyond the solar system.
- Space
Water-ice deposits found beneath Martian hills
Using radar from an orbiting spacecraft to penetrate the hidden recesses of Mars, planetary prospectors have uncovered vast reserves of water-ice buried beneath rocky debris.
- Planetary Science
Huge cyclone churns at Saturn’s north pole
Planetary scientists have gotten their closest look yet at polar storms on the ringed planet. These polar cyclones are big enough to engulf Earth.
- Planetary Science
So close, yet so far away
Astronomers have found, in the frozen reaches beyond Neptune, two gravitationally bound objects that compose the most widely spaced binary system known in the solar system.
- Space
Askew in the outer solar system
A chunk of ice orbiting backwards around the sun could offer hints about the mysterious origin of some comets.
- Space
Sniping at Jupiter
Giant Jupiter, often thought to protect the inner planets from space debris, may sometimes acts as a sniper, hurling material toward Earth.
- Planetary Science
New angles on Mercury
The NASA MESSENGER spacecraft completed its second flyby of Mercury, yielding crisp new images of a large swath of the planet not seen before.
- Planetary Science
Water’s role in Martian chemistry becoming clearer
As mission nears end, Phoenix Mars Lander finds strong evidence for minerals similar to those formed on Earth by liquid water.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s rings may not be as young as they look
Saturn's rings might be more massive, and thus older, than researchers had believed.
- Planetary Science
Racing against the Martian winter
With solid findings under its belt and the Martian summer waning, the Phoenix Mars lander perseveres in its study of the soil and sky of the planet’s arctic plain.
