Category: Solar System
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NASA’s Webb Captures Neptune’s Auroras For First Time
Long-sought auroral glow finally emerges under Webb’s powerful gaze For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune. Auroras occur when energetic particles, often originating from the Sun, become trapped in a planet’s…
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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Detects Largest Organic Molecules Found on Mars
Lee esta historia en español aquí. Researchers analyzing pulverized rock onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover have found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests…
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What’s Up: March 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA
A Fast-Moving Planet and a Crimson Moon! Catch Mercury if you can, then stay up late for a total lunar eclipse, and learn the truth about the dark side of the Moon. Skywatching Highlights All Month – Planets Visibility: Daily…
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NASA Selects Participating Scientists to Join Lucy Asteroid Mission
NASA has selected eight participating scientists to join its Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are remnants of our early solar system trapped on stable orbits associated with — but not close to — the planet Jupiter.…
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What You Need To Know About the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse
The Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow and appear to turn red on the night of March 13 or early in the morning on March 14, depending on time zone. Here’s what you need to know about the total lunar…
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Planetary Alignments and Planet Parades
On most nights, weather permitting, you can spot at least one bright planet in the night sky. While two or three planets are commonly visible in the hours around sunset, occasionally four or five bright planets can be seen simultaneously…
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January’s Night Sky Notes: The Red Planet
Have you looked up at the night sky this season and noticed a bright object sporting a reddish hue to the left of Orion? This is none other than the planet Mars! January will be an excellent opportunity to spot…
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NASA DAVINCI Mission’s Many ‘Firsts’ to Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets
NASA’s DAVINCI probe will be first in the 21st century to brave Venus’ atmosphere as it descends from above the planet down to its surface.
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NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets
Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our solar system. Collectively, since their launch in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered that Jupiter, Saturn,…
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NASA-Led Team Links Comet Water to Earth’s Oceans
Scientists find that cometary dust affects interpretation of spacecraft measurements, reopening the case for comets like 67P as potential sources of water for early Earth. Researchers have found that water on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has a similar molecular signature to the…