Category: Solar System
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NASA, Oxford Discover Warmer Uranus Than Once Thought
KEY POINTS For millennia, astronomers thought Uranus was no more than a distant star. It wasn’t until the late 18th century that Uranus was universally accepted as a planet. To this day, the ringed, blue world subverts scientists’ expectations, but…
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NASA Research Shows Path Toward Protocells on Titan
Editors Note: This story has been updated with new multimedia related to this topic. NASA research has shown that cell-like compartments called vesicles could form naturally in the lakes of Saturn’s moon Titan. Titan is the only world apart from…
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What’s Up: July 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
A.M./P.M. Planet Watching, Plus the Eagle Constellation Mars shines in the evening, and is joined briefly by Mercury. Jupiter joins Venus as the month goes on. And all month, look for Aquila the eagle. Skywatching Highlights All Month – Planet…
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NASA Launching Rockets Into Radio-Disrupting Clouds
UPDATE June 30, 2025: The second rocket of the SEED mission launched on Saturday, June 28, at 8:11 p.m. Marshall Islands Time (MHT). Principal investigator Aroh Barjatya reports that the rocket launched into active science conditions in the ionosphere and…
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What’s Up: June 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Planets, Solstice, and the Galaxy Venus and Saturn separate, while Mars hangs out in the evening. Plus the June solstice, and dark skies reveal our home galaxy in all of its glory. Skywatching Highlights All Month – Planet Visibility: Daily…
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NASA’s MAVEN Makes First Observation of Atmospheric Sputtering at Mars
After a decade of searching, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere Volatile Evolution) mission has, for the first time, reported a direct observation of an elusive atmospheric escape process called sputtering that could help answer longstanding questions about the history of water…
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Percolating Clues: NASA Models New Way to Build Planetary Cores
A new NASA study reveals a surprising way planetary cores may have formed—one that could reshape how scientists understand the early evolution of rocky planets like Mars. Conducted by a team of early-career scientists and long-time researchers across the Astromaterials…
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NASA’s Dragonfly Mission Sets Sights on Titan’s Mysteries
When it descends through the thick golden haze on Saturn’s moon Titan, NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft will find eerily familiar terrain. Dunes wrap around Titan’s equator. Clouds drift across its skies. Rain drizzles. Rivers flow, forming canyons, lakes and seas. But…
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NASA Observes First Visible-light Auroras at Mars
On March 15, 2024, near the peak of the current solar cycle, the Sun produced a solar flare and an accompanying coronal mass ejection (CME), a massive explosion of gas and magnetic energy that carries with it large amounts of…
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Webb’s Titan Forecast: Partly Cloudy With Occasional Methane Showers
Saturn’s moon Titan is an intriguing world cloaked in a yellowish, smoggy haze. Similar to Earth, the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and has weather, including clouds and rain. Unlike Earth, whose weather is driven by evaporating and condensing water, frigid…