Planetary Science

  1. Space

    Galaxy mix: No dark matter required

    New ultraviolet observations suggest dwarf galaxies may form without dark matter. The findings have implications for the early universe.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Earth may be home to unearthly life

    No need to look on other planets for new forms of life — weird life could exist right here on Earth.

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  3. Space

    Cosmic mystery

    High-energy invaders from space could signal a nearby pulsar, or perhaps dark matter.

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  4. Earth

    The Solar System’s Big Bang

    Finding signs of a lost beginning.

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  5. Earth

    For a big view of inner Earth, catch a few … Geoneutrinos

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  6. 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.

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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