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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
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.
Gaia's first galaxy map
The astronomy world is abuzz today because of ESA's announcement of the first release of data from the Gaia mission. Gaia is a five-year mission that will eventually measure the positions and motions of billions of stars; this first data release includes positions for 1.1 billion of them, and proper motions for 2 million.
Proxima Centauri b: Have we just found Earth’s cousin right on our doorstep?
What began as a tantalizing rumor has just become an astonishing fact. Today a group of thirty-one scientists announced the discovery of a terrestrial exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri. The discovery of this planet, Proxima Centauri b, is a huge breakthrough not just for astronomers but for all of us. Here’s why.
WISE Views in Infrared
Amateur image processor Judy Schmidt explains the process of creating gorgeous views of the cosmos from infrared data from the WISE telescope.
Whither the Weather? A Jet Stream Explainer
Jet streams are found in planetary atmospheres throughout our solar system. But what exactly are they?
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: The Eye of Sauron
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares his latest image, this time of a menacing spiral galaxy.
Atmospheric Waves Awareness: An Explainer
There are two types of atmospheric waves that are critically important on Earth and other planets: gravity waves and planetary waves.
Favorite Astro Plots #4: Classifying Exoplanets
Until just a few years ago, a plot of mass versus size of other worlds would have looked pretty sparse and uninformative. But thanks to the tireless efforts of exoplanet astronomers, we now know fairly precise masses and radii for hundreds of distant worlds.
Continuing the Hunt for Exoplanets
Meg Schwamb highlights some of the upcoming space-based missions that will search for planets beyond our solar system.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Shadow Play
Adam Block brings us his first images processed in the new year, showcasing the beautiful interplay of light and dark.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Distant Galaxies
Astrophotographer Adam Block shares stunning his images of far-away spiral galaxies.
Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Lesser-Known Beauty
Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block shares stunning images of a few rarely-imaged pieces of our universe.
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