Our solar system may have hosted up to six giant planets in its first hundred million years, a new study suggests. The findings paint a more crowded picture of the early outer solar system than previously thought.

Scientists accidentally discover magnetic fields around 7 distant planets

Models suggest that impact-ejected material from Earth could reach Venus’ clouds and potentially survive there briefly. Panspermia is the idea that life, or the ingredients needed for life, can move through space on asteroids, comets, and other objects. If life’s building blocks appear on one planet, a powerful impact could blast material from its surface [...]

Researchers have uncovered an unexpected phenomenon, dubbed the Zwan-Wolf effect, squeezing plasma "like toothpaste" in Mars' upper atmosphere. This effect, which also happens on Earth, was thought to be impossible on the Red Planet.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered a rare alien world that sits in a cosmic “sweet spot” between scorching hot Jupiters and frozen gas giants like Saturn. Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have examined the atmosphere of a rare giant planet with temperatures surprisingly close to those found on Earth. The [...]

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered surprising evidence about how enormous “super Jupiter” planets are born. The discovery blurs the line between massive planets and brown dwarfs, the objects often called failed stars. Giant Gas Planets Push the Limits of Planet Formation Gas giants are enormous planets made mostly of hydrogen and [...]

Scientists are trying to understand Venus' bright surface formations, called coronae, using new 3D maps.

The largest moon in the solar system — Jupiter’s Ganymede — has a unique and inexplicable magnetic field. New research could finally explain it: the moon is heating up.

On its way to a metal asteroid, NASA's Psyche probe tested its cameras as it got a gravity assist from the Red Planet.

Neptune has a complicated life story, and its moon Nereid might be the only one left standing from the planet’s multibillion-year history.

A bizarre pair of planets 190 light-years away is forcing astronomers to rethink how planetary systems form. A strange and extremely rare pair of planets is orbiting a star about 190 light-years from Earth, and astronomers think they may finally understand how this cosmic odd couple came to exist. The system contains a hot Jupiter, [...]

Pictures and striking scenes from the making of perhaps the world’s most celebrated naturalist.

New footage shows NASA's Curiosity rover tilting, rotating and vibrating its robotic arm as mission scientists tried to remove a rock that became stuck on a drill for six days.

A new study suggests early asteroid trajectory data could help design faster Mars missions, potentially cutting round-trip travel time to under a year.

A new study has identified a potentially record-breaking haul of transiting exoplanets, thanks to a machine learning algorithm that analyzed the light curves of more than 80 million previously overlooked stars.

A distant Jupiter-like planet has revealed an unexpected secret: water-ice clouds hiding in its atmosphere. The discovery, made with JWST, shows these alien worlds are more complex than scientists thought. Astronomers have identified an unexpected feature on a distant gas giant: water ice clouds. The finding comes from a team led by Elisabeth Matthews at [...]

The Curiosity rover snapped a series of peculiar polygons that look suspiciously like giant fossilized reptile scales. Although scientists have seen similar shapes on Mars before, they have never seen such a "dramatically abundant" concentration.

A dark patch in Mars' Utopia Planitia region has grown significantly since it was first photographed in 1976. Scientists have a loose understanding of what it is, but they can't properly explain its gradual growth.

The LHS 1903 system defies expectations with a rocky outer planet, prompting new ideas about how planets form and evolve. As astronomers discover more exoplanets, it is becoming clear that our solar system and its past may be unusual. A fourth planet recently identified in the LHS 1903 system by the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS [...]

A newly studied planetary system appears to break the expected order of worlds, revealing an unusual arrangement that current theories struggle to explain. “Many Vile Earthlings Munch Jam Sandwiches Under Newspapers” and “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos” may sound like nonsense, but they are classic memory tricks used to teach the order [...]

Viewing Saturn in complementary wavelengths, the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes reveal more about what makes up the layers of ringed planet's atmosphere.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope have teamed up to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Observing in complementary wavelengths of light, the two space observatories provide scientists with a richer, more layered understanding of the gas giant’s atmosphere. Both sense sunlight reflected from Saturn’s banded […]

The post NASA…

Astronomers have detected small, ruby-like crystals embedded in Martian rocks, which may also hide sapphires created in the fury of meteorite impacts.

Data from NASA's InSight mission suggests the Red Planet's Tharsis region is more active than previously thought and may be why Mars is spinning more quickly over time.

Astronomers have spotted two giant planets forming around a young star—offering a stunning glimpse of how our Solar System may have begun. Astronomers have identified two planets in the process of forming within the disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star called WISPIT 2. One planet had been spotted earlier, and new observations [...]

A new study shows that stars with low magnetic activity are likely to support exoplanetary systems, making the hunt for these celestial objects less random.

A potential new mineral on Mars forms when iron sulfates are heated above 100°C. Data from Valles Marineris regions suggest geothermal processes altered ancient sulfate deposits. A study published in Nature Communications reports the discovery of an iron sulfate on Mars that may represent a previously unknown mineral. Sulfur is abundant on the planet and [...]

A new NASA analysis concludes that it is "reasonable to hypothesize" that living things could have formed the odd organic molecules discovered on Mars.

New photos captured by NASA's Curiosity rover show that Mars' giant, spiderweb-like "boxwork" features are covered in tiny, never-before-seen nodules that bear a striking resemblance to arachnid eggs. And researchers are struggling to explain them.

Planetary Parade