Did the Solar System Just Gain 2 New Worlds?
A pair of scientific papers suggest that the ALMA observatory may have detected 2 new "planet-scale" objects associated with the outer realms of the solar system. But should we be awed or skeptical?
The Failure of Phobos
A new explanation for the strange grooves on the surface of the martian moon Phobos suggests that the entire satellite already shows signs of how it will eventually be destroyed.
Cassini Reveals That Enceladus Is Embraced by a Web of Cracks
The Cassini mission's third-from-last flyby of the icy moon Enceladus reveals that a highly complex network of thin cracks covering the surface extend all the way into the northern polar region
Chelyabinsk Meteor Played 4.5 Billion Years of Cosmic Pinball
A new study of fragments from the Chelyabinsk meteor reveal that it went through at least eight impact events spread across the last 4.5 billion years before it ended up impacting Earth
A New Billion-Mile Journey for New Horizons
NASA's New Horizons team decide on their next target, a classical Kuiper Belt object that can be reached by January 2019, but the agency must still approve funds for this extended science mission
Pluto's Barnacled Beauty
Early images from New Horizons' encounter with Pluto reveal an extraordinary surface of strange mountains and varying deposits of light and dark material
Good-Bye Pluto, Thanks for Everything
Although we've only just begun to see the scientific return from NASA's New Horizons mission and its close encounter with the Pluto–Charon system, this has been an unexpectedly profound human endeavor
Dissolving Surface May Form Titan's Lakes
Titan's lake depressions may form as its organic crust is dissolved by liquid hydrocarbons.
There's Methane in Them Thar Martian Rocks!
Indigenous methane appears to exist in Martian rocks
1,776 Portraits of a Comet
A stunning library of comet close-ups
Salty, Alkaline Curtains are Erupting from Enceladus – and That’s Good
Two new studies hint at a richer picture of what’s happening on Saturn’s extraordinary icy moon Enceladus. At about 500 kilometers in diameter, Enceladus is a diminutive natural satellite.
Rosetta Captures Stunning New Images of Comet’s Surface and Activity
What happens when you make a low-level flyby of a cometary nucleus? You get jaw-dropping images. The above 2-shot mosaic of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by ESA’s Rosetta orbiter at an effective altitude of just 19.9 kilometers.