Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

A year in review and a reddish hue

Get ready for a total lunar eclipse and pick your favorites from this year in space.

Best space pictures of the month: October 2022

Stunning views of Europa and the Eagle Nebula headline our roundup of space images released last month.

Creepy Cosmos! Scary space! Petrifying planets!

An especially spooky Halloween edition of The Downlink.

New wonders to behold

New stars are being born, new missions are being conceived, and new discoveries are being made all the time.

Good omens

The future is looking brighter thanks to a proven asteroid deflection technique and an array of visionary ideas for space exploration innovation.

How JWST will reveal our Solar System beyond Neptune

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will soon give us valuable data on the dozens of distant objects found beyond the orbit of Neptune in a region known as the Kuiper belt.

See DART’s final images before it smashed into an asteroid

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft intentionally crashed into Dimorphos, the moon of an asteroid named Didymos.

DART impact: What to expect

Get ready for NASA's demonstration of a planetary defense technique that could deflect a future asteroid on course to hit Earth.

Your impact: September equinox 2022

We’re pleased to report a very active summer back to you.

Space rocks!

Rock stars love space, and who can blame them! Take a look at awesome images, exciting science, and the connection between music and exploration.

Comets: big, beautiful, and surprisingly smelly

Get ready for one of the year’s best meteor showers, caused by one of the many intriguing comets of our Solar System.

Love at first sights

JWST’s stunning first science images

Why this Ceres mission could change the search for alien life

The enigmatic water-rich world in the inner Solar System could be set for a bold new NASA astrobiology mission.

Planetary accessorizing

Planets are beautiful and fascinating enough on their own, but there’s no denying that moons and rings add a little something special.

Defend your planet

With so many asteroids out there, it’s up to us to defend our planet from impacts. Find out how you can make a difference.

Updates from our Shoemaker NEO Grant winners

Brief updates on what the latest Shoemaker NEO grant winners have been working on.

Artist's concept of near-Earth asteroids

China is getting serious about planetary defense

Here is what we know about the capabilities and technologies China is considering developing in the near future for near-Earth object monitoring, cataloging, early warning and response.