Planetary Science

Illustration of hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b and its host star

AstronomyOctober 14, 2025

Have Astronomers Finally Found an Exomoon?

Data from the James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories suggests a supervolcanic exomoon may lurk around the giant exoplanet WASP-39b

Nola Taylor Tillman

Still from computer-animated film depicting the Cassini spacecraft conducting a fly-by through the plumes of Enceladus

Extraterrestrial LifeOctober 1, 2025

Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Has Complex, Life-Friendly Chemistry

A fresh analysis of old data has found rich organic chemistry within the hidden ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Jacek Krywko

May Issue: Your Heart in Flames. Read Now!

A looped animation of three different design concepts for NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory showing the architecture of each including sensors, mirrors and sun shields

Extraterrestrial LifeSeptember 30, 2025

NASA’s First-Ever Alien-Hunting Space Telescope Could Enlighten Our New Dark Age

The Habitable Worlds Observatory is poised to tell us whether Earth-like planets are common—if it can get off the ground

Nadia Drake, Lee Billings

Fragments radiate outward in the aftermath of a deep-space collision between two asteroids. The Sun can be seen in the distance as a small yellow orb.

The UniverseSeptember 26, 2025

Asteroid ‘Families’ Reveal Hidden Histories and Impact Risks across the Solar System

Many asteroids are related, but their family trees can be hard to trace

Phil Plait

The Full Moon is pictured setting below Earth's horizon from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above the Pacific Ocean

Planetary ScienceSeptember 23, 2025

The Moon Is Rusting—Thanks to ‘Wind’ Blown from Earth

Lunar minerals can rust when bombarded with high-energy oxygen particles, experiments show

Alexandra Witze, Nature magazine

ExoplanetsSeptember 23, 2025

This Blazing Exoplanet Breaks All the Rules about Alien Atmospheres, JWST Finds

Hot, small and old—exoplanet TOI-561 b is just about the worst place to look for alien air. Scientists using JWST found it there anyway

Elise Cutts

Illustration of a meteorite as a ripped piece of paper shooting through space

Planetary ScienceSeptember 22, 2025

The Sordid Mystery of a Somalian Meteorite Smuggled into China

How a space rock vanished from Africa and showed up for sale across an ocean

Dan Vergano

An artist's concept showing a grid of dozens of diverse exoplanets against a dark background. The planets vary in color, size, and texture, illustrating the vast variety of worlds discovered beyond our solar system

ExoplanetsSeptember 19, 2025

Astronomers’ Exoplanet Haul Tops 6,000 Alien Worlds

It’s a crowded galaxy, the latest exoplanet tally shows

Sarah Lewin Frasier

To the left of the rover near the center of the image is the arrowhead-shaped rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls, " which has features that may bear on the question of whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past. The small dark hole in the rock is where Perseverance took a core sample, which is now in a sample tube stored in the rover's belly. The white patch to the right of the hole is where the rover used an abrasion tool to clear away the top surface, allowing science instruments to study the rock's composition

MarsSeptember 10, 2025

This Rock May Hold Proof of Life on Mars

The Perseverance rover’s new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet

Humberto Basilio

Illustration of a star with multiple flares and four small orbiting planets. Star is off center to the lower right, with a silhouetted planet to its lower right. A smaller planet is shown an inch to the left, also silhouetted. A third planet is directly to the left of the star, gray and white but without much detail, and farther out near the left edge of the image is the fourth planet, also gray with little detail

ExoplanetsSeptember 9, 2025

Hints of Atmosphere on Earth-Sized Exoplanet Raise Hopes for Life

A monumental sign of an atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1e could be the precursor to finally finding a living world around another star

Jonathan O'Callaghan

Artistic impression of the Proxima Centauri system, with the planets Proxima b (in the distance) and Proxima d (in foreground), the latter confirmed by NIRPS

AstronomyAugust 26, 2025

New Instrument Checks on Proxima Centauri’s Planets

Fresh results from near-infrared instruments foretell a bright future for finding life elsewhere in the Milky Way

Ivan Farkas

Artwork of a small meteoroid impacting the surface of the Moon

The UniverseAugust 22, 2025

If This Asteroid Hits the Moon, Watch for Shooting Stars and Stricken Satellites

The 60-meter asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 4 percent chance of hitting the moon. Could such a lunar collision create a dangerous new meteor shower?

Phil Plait

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