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65 million years ago, a massive asteroid struck Earth. Not only did Jupiter not stop it, but it most likely caused the impact itself.

From the coldest planets to spacecraft that have exited the Solar System, these little-known facts stump even many professional astronomers.

The existence of another watery world in the outer solar system may offer clues to how such seas form — and hope for another spot to search for life.

The classic picture of Jupiter’s great rocky core might be entirely wrong.

NASA’s Juno mission, in orbit around Jupiter, occasionally flies past its innermost large moon: Io. The volcanic activity is unbelievable.

Once every 12 years, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all line up, opening a window for a joint mission. Our next chance arrives in 2034.

Could life be widespread throughout the cosmos, in the subsurface oceans of ice-covered worlds? NASA’s Europa Clipper mission investigates.

The structure of our Solar System has been known for centuries. When we finally started finding exoplanets, they surprised everyone.

If there’s life lurking on the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, could our instruments even detect it?

MIT Scientist Jason Soderblom describes how the NASA mission will study the geology and composition of the surface of Jupiter’s water-rich moon and assess its astrobiological potential.

For now, our Solar System’s eight planets are all safe, and relatively stable. Billions of years from now, everything will be different.

Planets can be Earth-like or Neptune-like, but only rarely are in between. This hot, Saturn-like planet hints at a solution to this puzzle.

As planets with too many volatiles and too little mass orbit their parent stars, their atmospheres photoevaporate, spelling doom for some.

In the largest star-forming region close to Earth, JWST found hundreds of planetary-mass objects. How do these free-floating planets form?

On December 9, 2023, Halley’s Comet reached aphelion: its farthest point from the Sun. As it returns, here are 10 facts you should know.

Since mid-2022, JWST has been showing us how the Universe grows up, from planets to galaxies and more. So, what’s its biggest find of all?

The outer planets’ clouds hide the weirdness within.

As the closest icy ocean world to Earth, Ceres may be a promising candidate in the search for signs of ancient life.

Barnard’s star, the closest singlet star system to ours, has long been a target for planet-hunters. We’ve finally confirmed it: they exist!

First ‘Oumuamua, then Borisov, and now ATLAS have shown us that interstellar interlopers are real. Here’s what the newest one teaches us.

While Saturn and its moons all appear faint and cloudy to JWST, Saturn’s rings are the star of the show. Here’s the big scientific reason.

The last infant stars are finishing their formation inside these pillars of gas. The evaporation of those columns is almost complete.

Finding a tiny planet around bright stars dozens or hundreds of light-years from Earth is extremely difficult.

Newborn stars are surrounded only by a featureless disk. Debris disks persist for hundreds of millions of years. So when do planets form?

On Earth, microbial growth is common in lava tubes no matter the location and climate, whether it’s ice-volcano interactions in Iceland or hot, sand-floored lava tubes in Saudi Arabia.

In our Solar System, even the two brightest planets frequently align in our skies. But only rarely is it spectacularly visible from Earth.

Featuring SpaceX’s “Mechazilla,” a first-of-its-kind spacewalk, and more.

More than two years after JWST began science operations, our Universe now looks very different. Here are its biggest science contributions.

This research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells in the liquid water ocean hidden beneath Enceladus’s icy crust.

NASA astrophysics, which gave us Hubble, JWST, and so much more, faces its greatest budget cut in history. All future missions are at risk.