Solar System

An artist's impression of the collision between early Earth and Theia. Because Theia formed in the inner part of the solar system, the Sun can be seen in the background. Credit: © MPS / Mark A. Garlick

Moon rocks reveal new clues about Theia – the planet that disappeared in the collision that formed the moon

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Precise analysis of iron isotopes in rocks from Earth and the Moon reveals that Thea – the body whose impact created the Moon – was likely born in the inner part of the solar system, even closer to the Sun.
A photograph of Comet i3/Atlas from Mars orbit.

NASA Sums Up Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Passage: A “Frozen Fossil” from an Alien Solar System

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A fleet of spacecraft and telescopes – from Hubble and James Webb to spacecraft orbiting Mars – tracked comet 3I/ATLAS, the third to reach us from outside the solar system, and discovered a composition and geometry different from local comets but
The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn have strong easterly winds around the equator, while the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have westerly winds. The new model establishes a direct relationship between wind direction and atmospheric depth.

As deep as the atmosphere

New model explains wind direction on giant planets
NASA's Dragonfly mission robotic vehicle. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

"Very strange": Titan's atmosphere behaves like a gyroscope

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New research reveals that the dense atmosphere of the moon Titan tilts and oscillates seasonally – a discovery that will impact future missions like NASA's Dragonfly.
The newly discovered trans-Neptunian object, 2017 OF201, hints at more hidden bodies beyond Neptune.

Astronomers have discovered a mysterious new world at the edge of the solar system.

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Trans-Neptunian object 2017 OF201, with a diameter of about 700 km and an extreme orbit of about 25,000 years, may be considered a dwarf planet – and hints at the existence of dozens of other hidden bodies beyond Neptune
Round chondrules seen in a thin section of the Allende meteorite under microscopic observation. Credit: Akira Miyake, Kyoto University.

Scientists date Jupiter's origin using ancient 'raindrops' of molten rock

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Researchers have developed computer simulations of Jupiter's growth and tracked how its gravity caused rapid collisions between rocky and water-rich planetesimals in the early solar system.
A Saturn-sized planet orbiting a tiny red dwarf is rewriting what scientists thought was possible in planetary systems. Credit: Avi Blizovsky, via DALEE

The small star that hosts a giant planet and stretches the laws of astronomy

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Astronomers have discovered TOI-6894b – a Saturn-sized planet orbiting a tiny red dwarf, a discovery that challenges conventional models of planetary system formation.
The outer solar system is bathed in cosmic radiation. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Cosmic radiation may fuel hidden life on Mars and beyond

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The study proposes a new definition: the "radiolitic habitable zone" - in contrast to the classic "habitable zone" (the region around a star that allows liquid water to exist on the surface), the radioolitic habitable zone focuses on places where water exists.
Comparison of the size of the planet Uranus to that of the Earth. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Internal heat source discovered in Uranus – a possible solution to a 40-year-old mystery

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NASA researchers have discovered that Uranus emits more energy than it receives from the sun, indicating an internal heat source – and undermining previous theories about the formation of giant planets.
A carbonaceous meteorite is about to crash into Earth. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Scientists may have solved a space rock mystery that could change our understanding of the beginnings of life

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An international study has found that carbon-rich meteorites are rare on Earth because they break up in space or burn up in the atmosphere, which could change our understanding of the origin of life.
These images, showing the material ejected from around the near-Earth asteroid that was struck, were taken during the approach (with Didymus at top left) and the receding (with Didymus at top right) of the LICIACube satellite, which flew over the area a few minutes after the impact and recorded its aftermath. The ejection field consists of an asymmetrical cone of dust containing streams and filaments, as well as more than 100 meter-sized rocks ejected in various directions. Credit: NASA's DART team and LICIACube

NASA's DART mission deflected an asteroid – but released a swarm of space rocks

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Astronomers at the University of Maryland have discovered that an unexpected burst of rock fragments released during the DART mission carried with it three times more momentum than the spacecraft itself – a discovery that provides important new insights
Comet 3I/ATLAS arrived in the Solar System from an older system located in the thick disk of the Galaxy. Illustration: Avi Blizovsky via DALEE

7-billion-year-old comet shows activity – and may originate from the depths of the galaxy

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3I/ATLAS, a rare interstellar comet that recently entered the solar system, shows signs of cometary activity and its orbit indicates an exit from the thick disk of the Milky Way
Discovered in early July, Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object to pass through the solar system. Scientists are tracking its motion and believe it is a rare opportunity to learn about planetary conditions in distant solar systems. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The Solar System as a Crossroads – A Third Comet from Another Solar System Discovered

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Comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered in early July, is only the third interstellar object to pass through the solar system. Scientists are tracking its motion and believe it is a rare opportunity to learn about planetary conditions in distant solar systems.
Asteroids hiding between the orbit of Venus and the Sun. Illustration by Avi Blizovsky via DALEE. The image is for illustrative purposes only and is not a scientific image.

Three 'hidden' asteroids behind Venus highlight the danger of uncharted skies

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While not an immediate threat, the discovery of three rare asteroids in inner orbit around the sun reveals the difficulty of identifying objects that could endanger Earth – and reinforces the need for dedicated telescopes like
Illustration of Jupiter with magnetic field lines emanating from the poles. Credit: K. Batygin

Twice the size and 50 times the power: Jupiter's primordial past revealed

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

The explosive secret that hides the violent past of carbonaceous meteorites

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Illustration: An image showing the Orion Nebula in visible and infrared light. Astronomers have discovered that about 14 million years ago, the solar system sailed through the Orion Nebula, a dense region where stars are forming. This journey may have compressed the heliosphere and increased the amount of interstellar dust, which could have affected Earth's climate and left an imprint on the geological record. Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, M. Robberto, M. Gennaro (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC), M. Kornmesser (ESA); Special thanks: A. Fujii, R. Gendler)

Scientists reveal that the sun's journey through the Orion Nebula could have changed Earth's climate

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About 14 million years ago, in the middle of the Miocene epoch, the solar system passed through the Orion Nebula. At the same time, the Earth cooled and the Antarctic ice sheet formed. Is there a connection between the two phenomena?
Hidden planet discovered: new hope for finding extraterrestrial life?

Hidden planet discovered: new hope for finding extraterrestrial life?

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HD 20794 d, a planet just 20 light-years away, is in the habitable zone of its star system. Could it support life?
The planets in our solar system always appear along a line in the sky. This line, called the ecliptic, represents the plane in which the planets orbit the Sun, as seen from our perspective within that plane. Credit: NASA / Preston Dykes

Not one planet, not two – but seven: A rare parade of planets in the night sky this week

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Asteroid 2024 Yr4 as observed from ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, image released on 25 February 2025

Advanced observations almost eliminate the risk of asteroid 2024 YR4 collision in 2032

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The European Southern Observatory (ESO) tracked the asteroid with the Very Large Telescope in Chile and reached a more accurate prediction of the trajectory of the asteroid that threatened to destroy entire cities. * In recent weeks, calculations have been made according to which
A comet at night above an observatory with stars and a figure observing.

Don't blink – the stunning Comet Atlas is breaking up before our eyes

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Visible coronal loops observed by the TRACE spacecraft. Credit: NASA/TRACE

NASA Just Found the Sun's Secret Warning Before Massive Solar Outbursts

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This discovery could help NASA and other organizations protect astronauts, satellites, and technologies on the ground from the potentially harmful effects of space weather.
SwRI is studying how Saturn's largest moon maintains its dense atmosphere. Scientists think Titan's core is covered in layers of ice and a subsurface liquid ocean. New experiments show that nitrogen and methane gases produced by organic matter in the core seep to the surface, regularly renewing the atmosphere. Credit: Southwest Research Institute

Scientists decipher Titan's dense atmosphere – new discoveries about the sources of nitrogen and methane

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New research suggests that nitrogen and methane seep from Titan's rocky core to the surface, helping to maintain its dense atmosphere. The findings could shed light on the planet's internal chemistry.
An asteroid is about to hit Earth. Illustration: depositphotos.com

NASA is tracking a skyscraper-sized asteroid with a 1% chance of hitting Earth in 2032

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Asteroid 2024 YR4 has been identified by NASA with a low chance – just over 1% – of colliding with Earth in December 2032. Scientists continue to collect data and refine calculations to assess the true risk.
New models suggest that Pluto and Charon were formed by a giant collision. This composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left) was taken by the New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system in 2015. Pluto and Charon are shown at approximately their relative sizes, but their true separation is not at the correct distance. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

How Pluto and its moon Charon were formed from a giant collision

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New research reveals that Pluto and its large moon Charon formed from a unique "kiss and capture" process following a giant collision, with significant implications for understanding the solar system.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image of Vesta as it left orbit around the giant asteroid in 2012. The camera looked down at the North Pole, in the center of the image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

What is hidden in Vesta's channels? Evidence of transient fluids in the giant asteroid

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Bodies of water on other planets may be a source of life. Jupiter's moon Europa, where scientists believe an ocean exists beneath the ice, may be a suitable place for life to exist. Source: NASA.

Discovery: even in the ice worlds there is water in a liquid state, which is one of the main conditions for existence of life

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New research sheds light on icy oceanic worlds like Jupiter's moon Europa, focusing on a new thermodynamic concept called "cenotactics"
A crew member works under the Roman instrument carrier during the coronagraph integration in a clean room at NASA Goddard Center in October 2024. Credit: NASA/Sydney Rohda

The 'Roman' space telescope received a device that will allow breaking new ground in the search for extraterrestrial worlds

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This image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows Comet Anka moving through its debris orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Minnesota

What is the level of risk from the "doomsday" asteroid swarm?

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A new study shows that the Taurid swarm contains fewer large asteroids than predicted, so the risk level from it is lower.
Many objects have been discovered at the edge of the solar system. Figure: Avi Blizovsky using FLEX-1

Astronomers discover mysterious new objects beyond the edge of the solar system

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Observations made with the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii have revealed new objects in the outer region of the Solar System, pointing to a large, unknown population beyond the Kuiper Belt.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the skies of Israel. Photography: Ilan Shapira

There are only a few days left to watch the Zuchinshan-Atlas comet in the evening sky (streaming recording)

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The comet discovered at the same time by two automatic stargazers and named after both is extremely bright. It will return to Earth's proximity only in 80 thousand years
El Médano 128 meteorite, a regular chondrite (L group), was found in the Atacama Desert in 2011 by a team of researchers from the Research and Teaching Center for Environmental Geosciences (CEREGE - University of Aix-Marseille/CNRS/INRAE/IRD). Credit: © Jérôme Gatakzka, CNRS, CEREGE

70% of the meteorites that landed on Earth came from a small number of collisions in the asteroid belt

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A new study reveals that most of the meteorites on Earth were formed as a result of collisions that occurred in the asteroid belt in the last tens of millions of years. The discovery provides new insights into the origins of meteorites and the possible threat to Earth
This artist's concept shows NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft as it orbits Jupiter and passes over the icy moon Europa. The mission, scheduled to reach Jupiter in April 2030, will be the first to conduct an in-depth study of Europa. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Europa Clipper launches: A bold search for life on Jupiter's icy moon

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The largest spacecraft ever built for an interplanetary mission has begun its long journey to explore Europa, with the goal of uncovering the secrets of the ocean beneath the ice and possibly finding evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Storm clouds over the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Archive photo). Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Due to Hurricane Milton, the launch of the Europa Clipper spacecraft to Jupiter, which was planned for yesterday, 10/10/2024, was postponed

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Severe weather conditions in Florida are forcing NASA and SpaceX to delay the launch of the Europa Clipper mission, which was designed to explore Jupiter's icy moon.
An artist's illustration depicts a primordial black hole (left) speeding across the surface of Mars and causing a slight "tremor" in Mars' orbit (right), with the sun in the background. Scientists from MIT claim that such a tremor may be detectable with the instruments available today. Credit: Illustration by Benjamin Lehmann, used with SpaceEngine @ Cosmographic Software LLC.

Dark matter: primordial black holes and the mysterious wobble of Mars' orbit

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These holes, which are theoretical remnants of the early universe, may be detectable every decade as they pass through the solar system, offering a new way to study the elusive dark matter
A close-up of the intense X7.1 solar flare on October 1, 2024, by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/SDO

A strong solar flare was recorded on October 1, 2024

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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has recorded one of the strongest outbursts in the current solar cycle, with the potential to impact technological systems on Earth and in space
A spectacular sunset over an observatory in a sky full of colorful clouds.

An unexpected discovery of new celestial bodies in the outer solar system amazes astronomers

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This artist rendering shows NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Europa Clipper spacecraft: Large solar wings power NASA's largest planetary spacecraft ever

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The Sun is now again approaching its 11-year "Schwab Cycle" maximum activity, here image taken by Solar Orbiter in October 2023. Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI Team

A cosmic mystery solved? New evidence shows that the planets influence the Sun's magnetic cycles.

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Researchers identify eddy currents in the Sun, called Rossby waves, as mediating the tidal effects of Venus, Earth and Jupiter on the Sun's magnetic activity
The cover of the book "The Milky Way - Autobiography of our galaxy.

 Berea Chapter from: "The Milky Way Autobiography of Our Galaxy" by Dr. Moya McTeer, Mater Publishing

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Chapter from: "The Milky Way Autobiography of Our Galaxy" by Dr. Moya Maktir, Mater Publishing. Translation: Adi Marcuse Hess, Editing: Helit Yanai
Planets orbit double stars. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Change in definitions: A planet can orbit more than one sun and even remnants of the sun

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A redefinition of planets throughout the universe is required. This is what a group of astronomers from UCLA claims * The researchers will present the new definition at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in August
Comet attack on young earth. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mysterious Travelers: Are We Drinking Water Brought by Dark Comets?

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Could asteroids, which are remnants of comets, be one of the main sources of water on Earth?
The preplanetary disk around the young star HL Tauri. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), NSF

Target board or donut? Iron meteorites reveal the early form of our solar system

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The formation of our solar system involved the accretion of gas and dust into a preplanetary disk, with meteorites providing important insights into its early composition.
An artist's concept of WASP-107 b shows turbulent atmospheric mixing within the planet's gas mantle. Credit: Roberto Muller Candanosa/Johns Hopkins University NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

The Webb Space Telescope offers the first glimpse into the interior of an extrasolar planet

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Methane found in WASP-107 b reveals core mass and stormy sky
Astronomers have found water vapor in the disk around a young star right where planets are likely to form. In this image, the new observations from the ESO partner Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) show the water vapor in shades of blue. Near the center of the disc, where the young star lives, the environment is hotter and the gas is brighter. The red rings are previous ALMA observations showing the distribution of dust around the star.Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Facchini et al.

Astronomers discover a new connection between water and the formation of planets

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An amount of water at least three times greater than the water in all the Earth's oceans was discovered in the inner disk of the young Sun-like star HL Tauri, 450 light-years away from Earth, in the Taurus group
The sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after it landed in the desert, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense Test and Training Range in Utah. (Image credit: NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule containing asteroid soil samples has landed safely in Utah and been moved to a clean room

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The Osiris-Rex probe returns to Earth small samples of the asteroid Beno, a "real small world" for analysis
Two nearly symmetrical swirling loops of gas and dust mark the dying flickers of an ancient red giant star. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, TA Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF's NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab), M. Zamani ( NSF's NOIRLab)

An overflowing cosmic "urn" - a telescope captures the spectacular end-of-life display of a red giant

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This end-of-life phase of red giant stars is relatively short, and the celestial structures that form around them are rare, so the Tobi Pitcher Nebula is an excellent example of a case study in the evolution of a star
This artist's impression shows NASA's Voyager spacecraft against a field of stars in the darkness of space. The two Voyager spacecraft are moving farther and farther from Earth on their journey into interstellar space, eventually orbiting the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit : NASA/JPL-Caltech

Voyager 2 has lost contact with Earth. Only one radio dish in the world can help her "call home"

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A human error in the commands sent to her caused her antenna to tilt at an angle of two degrees from the Earth. The radio antenna engineers of the deep space network in Australia will try to contact her
An artist's impression of the Cassini spacecraft flying through plumes erupting from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. These geysers are very similar to geysers and emit a mixture of water vapor, ice grains, salts, methane and other organic molecules. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Webb Space Telescope discovers a 10,000 km long plume of water erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus

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This is the first time that such a water emission has been seen from such a great distance, and in addition, the Web allows researchers a direct view, for the first time, of how this emission feeds the water supply of the entire system of
V838 Monocerotis A red variable star in the Monocros group. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Cosmic dust factories: variable stars and the origin of life

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It was found that stars with variable light intensity influence the production of the interstellar dust and its enrichment in heavy elements from which life was created
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