Planetary Science

Planetary Science

Saturn’s ‘ring rain’ is a surprising cocktail of chemicals

NASA’s Cassini probe got a closeup view of the material falling from Saturn’s rings into the planet. The data could help illuminate the belts’ origins.

Earth

Christopher Hamilton explores the architecture of other worlds

Planetary scientist Christopher Hamilton uses Earth’s volcanic structures are a blueprint for how lava shapes other worlds.

Planetary Science

Readers contemplate water on Mars and more

Readers had questions about the significance of finding water on mars, air pollution from wildfires and spray-on sensors.

Planetary Science

The first rovers to explore an asteroid just sent photos home

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has deployed a pair of rovers to the surface of asteroid Ryugu.

Planetary Science

The ghosts of nearly two dozen icy volcanoes haunt dwarf planet Ceres

The slumped remains of 21 ice volcanoes suggest that the dwarf planet Ceres has been volcanically active for billions of years.

Planetary Science

Saturn has two hexagons, not one, swirling around its north pole

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spied a vortex growing high over Saturn’s north pole, whose hexagonal shape mirrors a famous underlying cyclone.

Planetary Science

Jupiter’s magnetic field is surprisingly weird

New results from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal different magnetic behavior in the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres.

Planetary Science

The massive Mars dust storm is waning. Now, will Opportunity wake?

With a global dust storm on Mars finally passing, NASA hopes that its Opportunity rover will soon phone home.

Planetary Science

New Horizons has sent back the first images of Ultima Thule, its next target

NASA probe gets its first look at distant Kuiper Belt object

Planetary Science

OSIRIS-REx snaps first images of asteroid Bennu

OSIRIS-REx got its first glimpse of near-Earth asteroid Bennu. The probe will collect a sample from the asteroid and return it to Earth.

Planetary Science

Here’s where the Hayabusa2 spacecraft will land on the asteroid Ryugu

Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe and its landers will touch down on the asteroid Ryugu in the next few months to pick up dust samples and return them to Earth.

Astronomy

New Horizons may have seen a glow at the solar system’s edge

New Horizons may have seen a hydrogen wall just past the edge of the solar system, where the solar wind meets the stuff of interstellar space.