Solar System

The top news about what's going on in the cosmic neighborhood—from planet nine to the sun, and everything in between.

Explore Solar System

Latest in Solar System

Lafayette-Meteorite
Science

Meteorite found in a drawer in 1929 contains ancient evidence of liquid water on Mars

By Andrew Paul

Phobos passing across Sun as seen by Perseverance rover on Mars
Science

Googly-eyed potato eclipse filmed by NASA’s Perseverance rover

By Andrew Paul

A Leonids meteor streaks across the sky over Ankara, Turkey on November 17, 2020.
Science

November’s sky lights up with three meteor showers and the last supermoon of 2024

By Laura Baisas

a close-up of the planet jupiter's great red spot. it is a swirling red storm on the planet's more white and orange surface
Science

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot jiggles like JELL-O

By Laura Baisas

mars the planet
Science

NASA wants to send humans to Mars in the 2030s

By Joel S. Levine / The Conversation

Three Celestron telescopes on a plain background.
Gear

We love this Celestron smart telescope—it’s almost $150 off during Amazon’s fall Prime Day

By Amanda Reed

Illustration of the global coronal magnetic field as the sun rotates. The background is the solar corona observed in extreme-ultraviolet waveband, with global coronal magnetic field maps measured at different time overlapped on top of it.
Science

The sun’s magnetic field is where the ‘stuff’ is. It can be dangerous.

By Laura Baisas

JUICE image of Earth's radiation belt
Science

NASA captured the clearest ever images of Earth’s radiation belt

By Andrew Paul

an illustration of an orange dot orbiting a larger orangish body in space
Science

Astronomers discover a new exoplanet orbiting the closest single star to the sun

By Laura Baisas

Chinese lunar spacesuit
Science

China debuts its moon mission spacesuits

By Andrew Paul

a bright green meteor streaks across the sky over cliffs
Science

October’s skies bring an oddball meteor and a shiny new comet–if you’re lucky

By Laura Baisas

Z Machine operating at Sandia National Laboratories
Science

Could nukes deflect an asteroid? ‘X-ray scissors’ offer scientists clues.

By Andrew Paul

Illustration of the cases where one impulse Δv = 10−1 m s−1 from a small asteroid impact has been applied to Apophis.
Science

Astrophysicist predicts (slightly) higher chance for major asteroid impact in 2029

By Andrew Paul

A black and white image shows a silvery sheet of material toward the bottom
Science

NASA releases first photo of 860-square-foot solar sail in orbit

By Andrew Paul

Meteorite impacts and volcanic eruption producing glass beads on the Moon.
Science

Volcanoes may have existed on the moon far more recently than we thought

By Tom Hawking

a glowing full moon with the silhouette of a crow's profile
Science

September stargazing: A second supermoon and partial lunar eclipse

By Laura Baisas

Martian meteorite
Science

Just 5 impacts on Mars sent hundreds of meteorites to Earth

By Andrew Paul

south pole of the moon
Science

The moon was once covered in an ocean of magma: new data supports theory

By Tom Hawking

Astronomy: the corona of the sun, viewed during a total solar eclipse. Process print after a photograph, 1871.
Science

‘The sun has been eaten’: A brief history of solar eclipses

By Briley Lewis

Odyssey’s THEMIS view the horizon of Mars.
Science

Ultrasonic tools could one day track wind speeds on Mars

By Tom Hawking