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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Mars in all its glory, and a planet as hot as a star
Dive into Mars mania and catch up on this week’s space exploration updates.
The Bold Plan to See Continents and Oceans on Another Earth
A group of researchers, backed by NASA funding, wants to use solar sails and the Sun's gravity to capture an image of an exoplanet so sharp we can see continents, oceans, and clouds.
Not a Heart of Ice
Mark Marley explains what planetary scientists mean when they say the word
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Lesser-Known Luminaries
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his latest images highlighting some hidden gems.
The Skies of Mini-Neptunes
A GREAT QUEST is underway to discover Earthsize worlds in their stars’ habitable zones. Along the way, astronomers have been surprised to learn that the most typical size of planet in our galaxy is one with no counterpart in our own solar system.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Hidden Gems
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares of his latest views of our universe.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Sensational Spirals
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his latest galactic treasures.
Farewell, Kepler
NASA's Kepler space telescope helped us find our place in the cosmos.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: The Cosmic Ocean
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his most recent images of our amazing and beautiful universe.
A WIYN-win partnership
NASA and the National Science Foundation are teaming up to observe exoplanets discovered by Kepler and TESS.
An update on the potential habitability of TRAPPIST-1
One year ago, Franck Marchis wrote an article about the remarkable discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 system. Here's an update.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Hidden in Plain Sight
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares of his latest work.
Creating a guidebook for Earth's hypothetical twin
Early Earth's atmosphere wasn't a place for humans. Yet the planet had microbial life—something we should keep in mind for exoplanets.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Snapshots of Chaos
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block brings us stunning images of beautifully chaotic scenes across the universe.
This newly discovered Earth-sized planet could harbor life
And it's only 11 light-years away.
This giant, flower-shaped starshade creates an artificial eclipse to see distant exoplanets
Starshade is a proposed flower-shaped spacecraft that can create an artificial eclipse, allowing space telescopes to spot planets orbiting distant stars.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Waltzing Through the Universe
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block brings us more of his stunning images of the universe—this time of cosmic dances through space.
Wonderful potentially habitable worlds around TRAPPIST-1
Scientists have found seven, Earth-size planets orbiting a star just 40 light years away. Three lie in the habitable zone and could have water on their surfaces.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: The Space Between
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares some of his beautiful photos showcasing interstellar phenomena.
Dynamics of Exoplanet Systems
At this year’s Division for Planetary Sciences/European Planetary Science Congress meeting, the Exoplanet Dynamics session was packed full of talks on tightly-packed multi-planet systems and their instabilities.