Articles

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

A possible sign of life on K2-18b? Here’s what it means — and why it's just the beginning

If dimethyl-sulfide truly exists on the planet K2-18 b, it could be a huge milestone in the search for life.

Earthlings as aliens

Looking at life on Earth from another perspective.

Uranus' biggest unsolved mysteries

Distant, icy Uranus has puzzled scientists for decades. From its sideways spin to its mysterious magnetic field, the oddball world has many secrets waiting to be revealed.

Why the true colors of the planets aren't what you think

Cameras on our space probes act as proxies for our own eyes, but what they see isn't necessarily what our eyes would see.

See for yourself

See the month’s coolest space pictures, see planets in the night sky, and create the future in space that you want to see.

That’s a mare

An unusual lunar feature, Saturn’s shining rings, and Mars’ complex gullies.

Searching the skies to keep us all alive

Astronomers around the world are working to protect the Earth from asteroid impacts, with the help of Planetary Society members and donors.

Day and night, it’s all about starlight

This week in space: Mars days almost match up with ours, and light and molecules are created by distant stars.

The scientific truth is out there

The real science of aliens, the policy implications of ET, and new views of worlds beyond our own.

Would you like some salty water with your space salad?

Two new grant-winning projects, a collection of awesome space imagery, a mighty plume, and much more this week in space.

Want more space? Speak up!

Detailed Mars maps, insights into the Venusian surface, and views of Uranian rings all have one thing in common: they don’t happen without public support for space.

Asteroids worth getting psyched about

New discoveries from Ryugu, material heading our way from Bennu, and anticipation for a mission to Psyche.

What the search for aliens can learn from life on Earth

When searching for extraterrestrial life, we have to base our hunt on what we know about life on our own planet. This may seem limiting, but there's a lot we can learn from the astonishingly diverse lifeforms we have here on Earth.