Search
Planetary Science
From 2004 through 2017, Saturn was imaged many times and from many angles up close by Cassini. This new viral image isn't real; it's AI.
By looking at a giant, remarkable, edge-on protoplanetary system, astronomers have found a proto-protoplanet for the first time.
Even though no human has stepped foot on the Moon's surface in 50 years, the evidence of our presence there remains unambiguous.
One big goal of science is to find an inhabited, Earth-like planet. But if we find an Earth-like world, will we even recognize it?
No claim has even made it halfway up the Confidence of Life Detection (CoLD) scale, but 21st century science is just beginning to unfold.
With a waning Moon and a denser-than-ever debris trail, 2025's Geminids might be the year's best meteor shower, and 2026's could be amazing.
What if the first search for life beyond Earth actually succeeded?
Organic compounds can form through simple chemistry alone — making the search for true biosignatures trickier than it seems.
The Juno spacecraft, orbiting and imaging Jupiter since 2016, is still succeeding. Without a further extension, the mission now faces death.
As the closest icy ocean world to
Earth, Ceres may be a promising candidate in the search for signs of ancient life.
Viewing Uranus's largest moons with Hubble, astronomers hoped to find darkening on the trailing side. They found the exact opposite instead.
In around 7 billion years, we expect the Sun to run out of fuel, dying in a planetary nebula/white dwarf combination. Is that for certain?
Barnard's star, the closest singlet star system to ours, has long been a target for planet-hunters. We've finally confirmed it: they exist!
Here in our Solar System, terrestrial bodies get moons from gravitational capture or collisions. The Pluto-Charon system? It was both.
A new SETI study shows how far the field of technosignatures has come.
Life may have arisen far earlier — and more rapidly — than previously thought.
Motility was suggested as a promising "biosignature" as early as the 1960s, but the technology was insufficient — until now.
There was a lot of hype and a lot of nonsense, but also some profoundly major advances. Here are the biggest ones you may have missed.
MIT Scientist Jason Soderblom describes how the NASA mission will study the geology and composition of the surface of Jupiter’s water-rich moon and assess its astrobiological potential.
Mars and Earth were sister planets in many ways, with early similar conditions. Why did Mars die? The leading explanation isn't universal.
Could life be widespread throughout the cosmos, in the subsurface oceans of ice-covered worlds? NASA's Europa Clipper mission investigates.
Caption:“At this time in Mars’ history, we think CO2 is everywhere, in every nook and cranny, and water percolating through the rocks is full of CO2 too,” Joshua Murray says.
Scientists might be looking for Martian life in the wrong place.
Just 460 light-years away, the closest newborn protostars are forming in the Taurus molecular cloud. Here are JWST's astonishing insights.
The existence of another watery world in the outer solar system may offer clues to how such seas form — and hope for another spot to search for life.
Finding life beyond our Solar System requires understanding its host planet.
From size to mass to density and more, each world in our Solar System is unique. When we compare them, the results are truly shocking.
Peaking on the night of August 11/12, up to 100 bright meteors per hour will be visible. Here's how to make the most of it.
Earth, the only rocky planet with a large, massive satellite, is greatly affected by the Moon. Destroying it would cause 7 major changes.
Straddling the bounds of science and religion, Newton wondered who set the planets in motion. Astrophysics reveals the answer.