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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
A dispatch from the path of totality: the 2017 solar eclipse in Ravenna, Nebraska
Ravenna, population 1,400, sits on the plains of central Nebraska, and almost on the center line of the path of totality for the upcoming Great American Eclipse. Nebraska native Shane Pekny reports on how this small town is preparing for the big event.
Book Review: Sun Moon Earth
With the North American Total Solar Eclipse coming on August 21, people across the continent are getting eclipse mania! Astronomer Tyler Nordgren has written a detailed book on eclipses with a special focus on the August 21st event.
Parker Solar Probe: NASA renames upcoming mission to touch the Sun
NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft will repeatedly dive through the Sun's corona, giving scientists their first-ever up-close look at our star.
A week in the solar system
A roundup of pretty pictures and news from our robotic ambassadors around the solar system, from November 4 through 8.
A Day in the Solar System: 28 October 2015
On October 28th, the Cassini spacecraft flew through the geyser plume of Saturn's moon Enceladus. But Cassini was not the only spacecraft operating in the solar system that day.
In Pictures: A Partial Solar Eclipse from Space
Two sun-observing spacecraft in Earth orbit captured images of a partial solar eclipse Sunday morning.
Real-time sunset on Mars
Pause your life for six minutes and watch the Sun set....on Mars. Thank you, Glen Nagle, for this awe-inspiring simulation based on Curiosity's sol 956 sunset images.
A (Difficult) Day in the Solar System
After a bad day on the launch pad, some perspective.
Cool animations of Phobos transits from Curiosity
Shooting video of a lumpy moon crossing the Sun and turning it into a giant googly eye is not a new activity for Curiosity, but I get a fresh thrill each time I see one of these sequences downlinked from the rover.
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.
Days before its crash, LADEE saw zodiacal light above the lunar horizon
LADEE ended its mission as planned with a crash into the lunar surface on April 17. Just days prior, it turned its star tracker camera toward the lunar horizon and captured a striking series of images of the lunar sunrise and zodiacal light.
A Spin Through the Inner Solar System
Animated maps of the planets show the spheres in motion.
Missions to a Star
Upcoming deep space missions will venture right to the heart of the Solar System.
The Mercury Transit You Probably Missed
Planetary transits of the Sun by Mercury and Venus don't come along very often, and when they do we make a big deal of it because, well, it's really cool!
Europe Will Select Its Next Major Science Mission in November
The European Space Agency will announce two major science missions this November, one of which is likely to be devoted to solar system exploration.
More fancy Phobos and Deimos photography by Curiosity
Curiosity looked up after dark and captured more cool photos of Mars' moons. They include Phobos and Deimos passing in the night, and Phobos entering Mars' shadow.
Beautiful science by Elektro-L
Six months ago, I wrote about the Russian weather satellite Elektro-L, which has more than two years of successful experience in the geostationary orbit. Then I promised that I would be here to share the materials that we collected. I think it's time to deliver on the promise.
Mysterious tides in the Martian atmosphere
Observations made by the Mars Climate Sounder, an instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, have revealed new information about atmospheric tides on the Red Planet.
IRIS safely in orbit, ready to eye sun's atmosphere
IRIS, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph spacecraft, was launched from Orbital Science Corporation's Stargazer carrier aircraft over the Pacific Ocean at 7:27 p.m PDT.
Comet PANSTARRS from the other side of the Sun!
Comet PANSTARRS is delighting northern hemisphere viewers right now. But it's also big, bright, and beautiful to the STEREO spacecraft.



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