Solar System

The top news about what's going on in the cosmic neighborhood—from planet nine to the sun, and everything in between.

Latest in Solar System

This image provided by NASA, astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon on Thursday, April 2, 2026.

Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch: ‘Looking back at Earth…it truly emphasized how alike we are’

By Popular Science Team

sliver of earth in background, moon in foreground

16 inspiring Artemis II photos that’ll make you feel like a tiny Earthling

By Popular Science Team

Artemis patch against capsule window in Orion with Earth beneath it

Why you can’t see space junk in Artemis II photos

View of Earth seen from Orion spacecraft during Artemis II mission

Artemis II crew snaps stunning portrait of Earth on their way to the moon

An artist’s conception of the gas giant planet TOI-5205 b orbiting a small, cool red dwarf star. Image courtesy Katherine Cain, Carnegie Science.

A ‘forbidden planet’ the size of Jupiter has astronomers stumped

A starry sky shines over a field of flowers in Germany during the annual Lyrid meteor shower in April 2020.

April skygazing: An early micromoon, comet flyby, and the Lyrid meteor shower

Clouds and the Sun illuminate the sky on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, as NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft stand vertical at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The best way to watch the Artemis II launch is on C-SPAN

From left to right, Artemis II Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from CSA (Canadian Space Agency), Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover, arrive on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the Launch and Landing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the Artemis II test flight.

A 2nd grader designed an adorable mascot for NASA’s Artemis II mission

NASA’s Juno spacecraft passed north-to-south (yellow track) over Jupiter’s atmosphere on August 17, 2022, detecting a cluster of radio pulses from lightning (cyan symbols marking instrument pointing for each pulse). A background map from the Hubble Space Telescope identified the lightning source as an isolated “stealth superstorm.”

Jupiter’s lightning is 100 times stronger than Earth’s bolts

An artist's impression of a theoretical planet orbiting a redder star, which could cause microbes and plants on the planet's surface to reflect very different colours from Earth’s green forests. Gillis Lowry

The 45 planets most likely to host alien life, according to astronomers

A meteor over Pittsburgh recorded on March 17, 2026

A meteor exploded over Ohio and Pennsylvania

Meteor crossing sky at dusk in Germany on March 8, 2026

A meteor soared across Europe—and possibly hit a house

An artist's impression of 3I/ATLAS is shown as it passes near the Sun, illuminating one side of the comet. On the side of the comet closer to the sun, the methanol gas is shown in blue, with icy dust grains still present in the gas. On the dark side of the comet, the hydrogen cyanide is shown in orange.

3I/ATLAS comet is bursting with alcohol, surprising astronomers

a red moon due to a total lunar eclipse

March skygazing: a full blood moon rises and new season

Handing winding a series of brass gears that comprise an interplanetary clock device

What time is it on Mars? This analog ‘Interplanetary Clock’ can tell you.

Left: An artist’s drawing of Earth’s magnetic field (blue lines) interacting with the Sun’s charged particles (yellow lines). The Earth’s magnetosphere (orange crescent) is created by Earth’s magnetic field. It deflects those particles like an umbrella. Right: NASA MMS mission observations like those volunteers would see while participating in the Space Umbrella project.

Help NASA prepare for the next solar storm disaster

These observations by NASA’s SPHEREx show the infrared light emitted by the dust, water, organic molecules, and carbon dioxide contained within comet 3I/ATLAS’s coma during the mission’s December 2025 campaign.

Comet 3I/ATLAS is leaving the solar system with a dramatic light show

Candidates for Luna 9's landing site. Credit: Pinault et al.

Astronomers close in on long-lost Soviet lunar lander

Seed cone of the evergreen Norway spruce tree, Picea abies.

No, trees can’t anticipate a solar eclipse

an illustration of an asteroid

World’s largest digital camera spots massive asteroid

By Laura Baisas