solar system

Illustration of Astronomer Galileo Galilei

Science Feb 15

How Galileo’s groundbreaking works got banned

By Dr. Howard Markel

Saturn's icy moon Rhea passes in front of Titan as seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2009. Image by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

WATCH: NASA charts course to Saturn’s moon Titan with ‘Dragonfly’ mission

The American space agency plans to announce details of the new expedition from its headquarters on Thursday.

By Nsikan Akpan

Eta Aquarid meteor shower as seen from Carindale, Brisbane on Wednesday 8 May 2019. Photo by Paul Balfe/via Flickr

Did the birth of the solar system make meteorites? Here’s a tell-tale clue

Despite decades of intense study, there is no general consensus on how most meteorites formed. An astronomer and a geologist offer a new theory of what happened during the solar system's birth to create these valuable relics of our past.

By William Herbst, James Greenwood, The Conversation

The 'Milky Way' is seen in the night sky around telescopes and camps of people over rocks in the White Desert north of the Farafra Oasis southwest of Cairo May 16, 2015. The White Desert, about 500 km southwest of the Egyptian capital Cairo, features limestone and chalk forms strangely shaped by the wind and sand, a terrain that gains in intensity when illuminated by the moon. Slightly to the north lies the Black Desert, given its name by the volcanic rock dolerite, similar to basalt. Four-by-four and trekking trips for tourists include Bedouin music around campfires and nights slept under a breathtaking array of stars. Picture taken May 16, 2015. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - RTX1FD3S

This poet explores the high-flying realms of space — but also the earthly problems of growing up poor

In his new books "Map to the Stars," Adrian Matejka writes about his childhood fixation on space, which offered a distraction from living in poverty.

By Elizabeth Flock

We can’t see this possible 9th planet, but we feel its presence

Most of us grew up thinking there were nine planets in the solar system, but that changed when Pluto got downgraded in 2006. Now there's news that there might be a ninth planet after all. Researchers have found evidence of…

By PBS NewsHour

4K NASA video lets you see the sun in a new light

By Justin Scuiletti

NASA is allowing you to engage in an extended gazing session at our planet's star this week with the release of a new video that reveals the sun -- rotation, solar flares and all -- in unprecedented detail. The…

How Rosetta can help decipher a comet’s secrets

By PBS NewsHour

After a 10-year journey, the space probe Rosetta is orbiting a comet. The spacecraft is slated to follow the comet for more than a year on its way toward the sun. Hari Sreenivasan talks to Mark McCaughrean, senior scientific advisor…

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Rosetta spacecraft’s first images of comet

By Larisa Epatko

After a 10-year, 4-billion-mile journey, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta space probe reached its final destination on Wednesday: comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.