Category: Solar System
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NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our solar system’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth. With Webb’s advanced sensitivity, astronomers have…
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What NASA Is Learning from the Biggest Geomagnetic Storm in 20 Years
One year on, NASA scientists are still making huge discoveries about the largest geomagnetic storm to hit Earth in two decades, the Gannon storm. The findings are helping us better understand and prepare for the ways in which the Sun’s…
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What’s Up: May 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Eta Aquarids & Waiting for a Nova! The first week of May brings the annual Eta Aquarid meteors, peaking on the 6th. And sometime in the next few months, astronomers predict a “new star” or nova explosion will become visible…
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How to Contribute to Citizen Science with NASA
A cell phone, a computer—and your curiosity—is all you need to become a NASA citizen scientist and contribute to projects about Earth, the solar system, and beyond. Science is built from small grains of sand, and you can contribute yours…
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Eye on Infinity: NASA Celebrates Hubble’s 35th Year in Orbit
In celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35 years in Earth orbit, NASA is releasing an assortment of compelling images recently taken by Hubble, stretching from the planet Mars to star-forming regions, and a neighboring galaxy. After more than three…
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Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System
Our solar system has eight planets, and five officially recognized dwarf planets. Which planet is biggest? Which is smallest? What is the order of the planets as we move out from the Sun? This is a simple guide to the…
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Hubble Helps Determine Uranus’ Rotation Rate with Unprecedented Precision
An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made new measurements of Uranus’ interior rotation rate with a novel technique, achieving a level of accuracy 1,000 times greater than previous estimates. By analyzing more than a…
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Eclipses, Science, NASA Firsts: Heliophysics Big Year Highlights
One year ago today, a total solar eclipse swept across the United States. The event was a cornerstone moment in the Heliophysics Big Year, a global celebration of the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. From October…
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What’s Up: April 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
April (Meteor) Showers and See a City of Stars! Enjoy observing planets in the morning and evening sky, look for Lyrid meteors, and hunt for the “faint fuzzy” wonder that is the distant and ancient city of stars known as…
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20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights
The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the Sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world. Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered new insights into the planet’s…