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Astronomers find a pitch-black planet
Exoplanet WASP-12b has the unique capability to trap 94 percent of the visible starlight falling into its atmosphere. The result is a world as black as fresh asphalt.
September 17, 2017
Venus’ mysterious night side revealed
Researchers using Venus Express spacecraft data report "stationary waves" and slowly moving features in the planet's upper clouds, during Venus' long and mysterious night.
September 16, 2017
Goodbye, Cassini!
The Cassini spacecraft has become part of Saturn, the planet it studied so spectacularly and so long. Cassini's last images and final moments, here.
September 15, 2017
More Cassini legacy: Titan’s bonkers atmosphere
Cassini's legacy will endure. Click for a video about the atmosphere of Saturn's large moon Titan, which might resemble that of an early Earth.
September 15, 2017
Juno sees Jupiter up-close and personal
A series of images from the Juno spacecraft's 8th close flyby of the gas giant planet
September 14, 2017
Does organic material in comets predate our solar system?
"If cometary organic molecules were indeed produced in interstellar space—and if they played a role in the emergence of life on our planet—might they not also have seeded life on many other planets of our galaxy?"
September 13, 2017
Cassini makes ‘goodbye kiss’ flyby of Titan
NASA said Cassini's final flyby of Titan - Saturn's large moon - went as planned. The spacecraft is now on a course that'll take it inside Saturn's atmosphere, for a fiery end to its mission, on September 15.
September 11, 2017
Pluto craft wakes from hibernation
And last week mission scientists filed a flight plan for New Horizons' next flyby - of the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 - in early 2019. It'll be farthest encounter yet between an earthly spacecraft and distant solar system body.
September 11, 2017
NASA ponders Saturn mission legacy
A statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Cassini mission success at Saturn, and on where solar system exploration will go from here.
September 11, 2017
Cassini milestones before the final plunge
Milestones for Cassini's final week at Saturn. Today's distant flyby of the large moon Titan will slow down the spacecraft enough so that - on Friday - Cassini will make its final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.
September 11, 2017
