Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Rosetta spacecraft gets better view of comet’s fuzz
News images are giving astronomers a sense of the size of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's coma and the shape of its core.
- Earth
Early life probably fell victim to massive space rocks
Planet-sterilizing impacts probably snuffed out early life on Earth until around 4.3 billion years ago.
- Planetary Science
Comet ISON fell apart earlier than realized
Comet ISON disintegrated at least eight hours before it grazed the surface of the sun last fall, new observations show.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta spacecraft sees possible ‘double’ comet
The comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko may actually be two objects stitched together.
- Planetary Science
Titan’s origins linked to Oort cloud
The building blocks of Titan may have formed in the early solar system, not from a warm disk around Saturn when the planet was young.
- Planetary Science
Mystery patch found floating on Titan’s seas
Changes on the surface of a methane lake on one of Saturn’s moons may signal the onset of summer there.
- Astronomy
Rosetta spacecraft is closing in on comet 67P/C-G
The Rosetta spacecraft is still on track to pull up and park next to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in August.
- Planetary Science
Moon’s origins revealed in rocks’ chemistry
A new chemical measurement of rocks from Earth and from the moon supports the giant impact hypothesis, which explains how the moon formed billions of years ago.
- Planetary Science
Do-it-yourself solar system
If you've always wanted to build your own solar system, roll up your sleeves — SuperPlanetCrash is an online solar system simulator, set up as a game.
- Astronomy
Young, hot exoplanet takes title for longest year
Newly discovered exoplanet sits a whopping 2,000 times farther from its star than Earth does from the sun.
- Planetary Science
Titan’s haze gives clues to clouds on exoplanets
Titan’s hazy atmosphere may help astronomers better understand what’s going on in the clouds of exoplanets.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta spacecraft’s comet develops dusty envelope
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target of ESA’s Rosetta mission, has developed a dust coma.
