By tracking a meteorite found in Morocco back to its origin in an asteroid crater on Mars millions of years ago, scientists can learn more about how the planets formed.
During ice ages, ice sheets like the one in Greenland have covered much of Earth’s surface.
Thor Wegner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
The Moon illusion is what makes the Moon look giant when you see it rising over a distant horizon. An astronomer explains what causes this awe-inspiring trick of the mind.
Pluto was recategorized from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006.
(Shutterstock)
A curious kid asks: Why does it matter if Pluto is a planet or a dwarf planet?
Sand blown by wind into ripples within Victoria Crater at Meridiani Planum on Mars, as photographed by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 3, 2006.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Cornell/Ohio State University
There are many bodies in the solar system we can’t easily access. But observations of their winds and sediments reveal a surprising amount.
There is a U.S. flag on the Moon, but in the future, countries may start to turn access to the Moon and asteroids into serious wealth.
NASA/Neil A. Armstrong
Current trends suggest that powerful nations are defining the rules of resource use in space and satellite access in ways that will make it hard for developing nations to ever catch up.
The Earth viewed from the Apollo 8 lunar mission on Dec. 24, 1968.
NASA
We may be on the brink of discovering whether water and organic material, which enabled life on Earth, came from asteroids.
Early Earth on the left, had seas infused with life-enhancing iron, whereas Earth today, seen on the right, does not.
Credit: Image courtesy of Mark A. Garlick / markgarlick.com
Most of what we know about planets outside our Solar System relates to gas-giant planets. A new study has identified and characterised a smaller exoplanet.
Without a magnetic field, the Moon’s surface is exposed to solar wind. These could have been depositing resources like water and potential rocket fuel on the Moon’s surface for billions of years.
The Sun over Earth, seen from the International Space Station.
NASA
Gravity is something every person on Earth intuitively understands: It is what keeps you on the ground. But how come gravity pulls down, rather than pushes up? Einstein came up with the answer.