All
All
Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
On writing Infinitesimal
Amir Alexander's new book about an epic battle over a mathematical concept that shook the old order and shaped the world as we know it.
Illustris: A realistic virtual universe
Watch another universe unfold as simulated by Illustris, using a model that required 8,000 processors running in parallels 3 months to create!
Rosetta update: Final orbit matching phase has begun
Rosetta is in the final stage of its approach to comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Yesterday, the spacecraft successfully performed the first of ten burns it needs to match velocity with the comet.
Wow, an Increase of $170 million for Planetary Exploration
The House revealed details of its draft NASA budget today, including an increase of $170 million to Planetary Science above the White House's request for 2015, putting it within spitting distance of our goal of $1.5 billion.
New Horizons: Updates From the April 2014 Science Team Meeting
New Horizons team member Simon Porter reports on the state of the mission and Pluto system science from the recent science team meeting at the Applied Physics Laboratory.
A Martian analemma
A Mars year's worth of Sun images from Opportunity demonstrates Mars' orbital motions as reflected in the changing apparent position of the Sun: the analemma.
Dawn Journal: Explaining Orbit Insertion
Less than a year from its rendezvous with dwarf planet Ceres, Dawn is continuing to make excellent progress on its ambitious interplanetary adventure. But once it gets to Ceres, just how will it go into orbit? Marc Rayman explains.
How Weird Is Our Solar System?
Earth and its solar system compatriots all have nearly circular orbits, but many exoplanets orbit their stars on wildly eccentric paths. Is our home system strange? Or is our sense of the data skewed?
The House Proposes an Extra $435 million for NASA next year
Budget season is in full swing in Washington, D.C., and we're starting to see indications of how NASA will fare this year. I have to say, things are looking pretty promising.
Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Roves to Next Clay Mine
The Mars Exploration Rovers mission cruised toward the Martian spring, Opportunity is powered-up and cleaner than it has been since its first winter on Mars.
Swirly PlanetVac
There are swirly indications from a study of how to optimize the lander pad portion of the Planetary Society/Honeybee Robotics PlanetVac planetary surface sampling system.
An Open Letter to the Planetary Science Community
Dr. Jim Bell, a planetary scientist and President of the Planetary Society, calls on his colleagues to write Congress in support of planetary exploration and to support The Society.
Image processing trick: Removing interline transfer smear from Curiosity photos
Curiosity took a new self-portrait on sol 613. This post contains a tip for would-be Curiosity image processors on how to make their Curiosity mosaics better: removing the smearing effect of bright objects in MAHLI photos.
When will we know which is bigger, Pluto or Eris?
We don't currently know whether Pluto is the biggest thing in the Kuiper belt or not. When will New Horizons give us the answer?
This is the post where you can comment about the IAU planet definition
An attempt to corral the discussion of the IAU planet definition in one place on planetary.org, so that we may be free to actually discuss Kuiper belt observations and scientific results on posts elsewhere on this site.
Another Pale Blue Dot — Uranus Spied By Cassini
The Cassini mission has already returned an array of images of other solar system members from Saturn orbit: Earth (and the Moon), Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. It’s time to add another world to that list!
Highlights From OSIRIS-REx Science Team Meeting #6
The OSIRIS-REx Science Team gathered at the University of Arizona from April 22–24, 2014 for their sixth meeting. Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta discusses a few of the highlights.
Green Bank Telescope Helps Out an Old Friend
The Green Bank Telescope has been called into emergency service to play radar ping-pong on a close-by asteroid with Arecibo Observatory’s 100-meter William E. Gordon radio telescope.
Curiosity update, sols 597-610: Picking a drill site at the Kimberley
After completing the initial reconnaissance of the Kimberley outcrop two weeks ago, Curiosity is, at last, moving toward a drill site. The science team selected the location last week: a spot near the base of Mount Remarkable, into what they have been calling the
Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of Bennu
What can studying the thermal emission of Bennu with the Spitzer Space Telescope tell us about its physical properties?



Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Small Bodies