Articles

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the twenty-fifth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these conjoined craters?

Emily Lakdawalla

Each day until the New Year, I'll be opening a door onto a different landscape from somewhere in the solar system. Where in the solar system are these squirrely spots?

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the twenty-third door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this oozing wound?

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the twenty-second door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these degraded craters?

Emily Lakdawalla

Cassini's busy downlinking photos from yesterday's close pass by Enceladus, including some neat shots of Dione and this one where Mimas skipped briefly in to the field of view.

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the twenty-first door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this rumpled blanket?

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the twentieth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this diffuse blob and stripy sea?

Emily Lakdawalla

Unless you live under a rock you probably know that there is a total lunar eclipse tonight, one that should be particularly favorable for viewing from North America but which will be at least partially visible to viewers in South America, Europe, and easternmost Asia and Australia too.

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the nineteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these folded rocks?

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the eighteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this brush-stroked surface?

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the seventeenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these strange promontories?

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the sixteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this widespread fan?

Emily Lakdawalla

The Planet Hunters website, like Zooniverse's other projects, is very, very easy to get up and running.

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the fifteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system is this cratered world?

Emily Lakdawalla

Today Opportunity has driven to within 20 meters of Santa Maria crater, and the blocks around it are really, really cool-looking. This one is a dead ringer for the severed tail of an alligator.

Emily Lakdawalla

Don't blink when you play the video below -- it's only 15 seconds long, but it's so cool.

Emily Lakdawalla

Until the New Year, I'll be opening a door each day onto a different landscape from somewhere in the solar system. Where in the solar system are these red freckles?

Emily Lakdawalla

Opportunity is on a kilometers-long eastward road trip across Meridiani Planum toward the rim of a large ancient crater named Endeavour; it'll be many months yet before she gets there.

Emily Lakdawalla

Time to open the thirteenth door in the advent calendar. Where in the solar system are these parallel gouges?

Emily Martin

There is really cool geology being explored on large, oddly shaped asteroids. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission reached 433 Eros in 2000, and one of the exciting results was the discovery of features called