It’s been 30 years since NASA last visited Venus, with the Magellan orbiter in 1990. Now, two new missions have been selected to explore the deadly atmosphere, crushing…
The spacecraft flew closer to Jupiter’s largest moon than any other in more than two decades, offering dramatic glimpses of the icy orb. The first…
The first of the gas-giant orbiter’s back-to-back flybys will provide a close encounter with the massive moon after over 20 years. On Monday, June 7,…
Nearly 40 years ago, scientists first predicted the existence of helium rain inside planets composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter and Saturn….
Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea…
During its 33rd low pass over the cloud tops of Jupiter on April 15, 2021, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured the intriguing evolution of a feature…
A proposed mission called Io Volcano Observer (IVO) would visit Jupiter’s moon Io, which is a true volcanic wonderland with hundreds of erupting volcanoes gushing…
Auroral displays continue to intrigue scientists, whether the bright lights shine over Earth or over another planet. The lights hold clues to the makeup of…
This image from NASA’s Juno mission captures the northern hemisphere of Jupiter around the region known as Jet N7. The planet’s strong winds create the…
UVS images faint auroral rings that likely originate at edge of gas giant’s magnetosphere. The SwRI-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) orbiting Jupiter aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft…
Jupiter’s moon Europa may have the potential to harbor life. The spacecraft will use multiple flybys of the moon to investigate the habitability of this…
Jovian jet streams above the cloud tops measured using the aftermath of comet collision. Working with a team led by French astronomers, Southwest Research Institute…
A new study tracks the life cycle of the spectacular ultraviolet storms in the big planet’s aurora, generated by charged particles from its volcanic moon,…
The massive storm near the gas giant’s equator has been shrinking, but collisions with a series of anticyclones are likely only surface deep. The stormy,…
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, a team of astronomers have directly measured winds…
The gas-giant orbiter is illuminating the provenance of Jovian polar light shows. New results from the Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument on NASA’s Juno mission reveal for…
What’s Up for March? Mars and friends in the evening, and a brilliant pair of planets returns… In the first week or so of March,…
Comet Comes in from the Cold and Finds an Off-Ramp on Its Sunward Journey Long road trips can be tedious and boring. That’s why many…