Solar system

The second-closest, properly sunlike star seems to be at least as interesting as the Alpha Centauri stars

The rare spectacle of a total solar eclipse has given scientists throughout history fleeting opportunities to delve into everything from the sun’s chemistry to Einsteinian relativity to Earth’s place in the solar system.

This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on August 16, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.

Our local gas giant has two more natural satellites added to its roster

An exquisite time-lapse of our local, surprisingly complex gas giant

The Martian has already happened, just not with a human

When is a planet a planet? Always, whether it's a hecto-planet or a milli-planet

From accordion genomes to icy flows and binary trans-Neptunian objects

Spurting out molecular hydrogen and water, the icy moon Enceladus looks even tastier in the search for life

Human colonization of space would be terrifyingly hard, and that's the best thing about it

Types of rocky meteorites rare today were abundant 466 million years ago

As the solar year ends, let's try to stop being so parochial

NASA's Curiosity rover finds a foreign object on Mars, and engages in some science awesomeness