NASA
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 Earth has had at least five major ice ages, and humans showed up in time for the most recent one. In fact, we’re still in it.
The Moon often looks enormous when it first rises because of what is known as the Moon illusion.
Roadcrusher/Wikimedia Commons
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
The Earth is a resilient planet, but people are altering it in ways that may take centuries to reverse.
A DIY satellite ground station in London, UK.
Dyer & Engelmann
With an antenna, a laptop and some software, you can take a picture of Earth from space.
PhotoVisions/Shutterstock
It’s often said that the aurora, or the northern lights, is caused by ‘particles from the Sun’. But in reality things are more complicated.
Nasa
The mission is set to launch in March 2022. Here’s what you need to know.
The Earth spins as it orbits the Sun. Elements of this image furnished by Nasa.
janez volmajer/Shutterstock
Only a planet crashing into it might stop the Earth’s spin.
Image of Ryugu taken by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft in 2018.
JAXA/wikipedia
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
Life doesn’t just need water and oxygen to thrive, it also needs iron.
SPP 1992 (Patricia Klein)
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.
Pexels
Welcome to an entirely new understanding of the world.
This image of the Earth from a distance, known as the Blue Marble, was taken by Apollo 17 astronauts.
NASAMarshall/Flickr
Photographing the full Earth from space could provide a profound and timely reminder of its vulnerability in the face of climate change.
Scientists have been studying lunar samples brought back from Apollo missions to understand the geologic history of the Moon.
NASA
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
When heat in doesn’t equal heat out, Earth sees changes.
The planet and the way we live on it are constantly changing.
Buena Vista Images via Getty Images
The Earth is constantly changing in natural ways, but most of those changes are very slow. Humans are speeding up other changes with global warming.
Gravity feels like it’s pulling everything toward Earth, but why?
AdventurePhoto/E+ via WikimediaCommons
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.