Live Science keeps you up-to-date with the amazing discoveries astronomers are making about the planets in our universe, from Earth and its solar system sisters to distant exoplanets thousands of light-years away.
Our expert writers and editors report on the discovery of planets more hospitable to life than Earth, research suggesting an unknown "captured" alien planet may be hiding at the edge of our solar system, why the jury is still out on Planet Nine, and even what color the sunset is on other planets. So, whatever your cosmic curiosities, there's sure to be something that captivates you in the latest planet news, features and articles.
Discover more about planets
—Why do the planets in the solar system orbit on the same plane?
—What's the maximum number of planets that could orbit the sun?
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Life on Mars could survive — so long as you're one of these strange, hybrid lifeforms
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See Venus at its 'greatest brilliancy' this week — or wait until Sept. 2026
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Curiosity rover finds largest carbon chains on Mars from 3.7 billion-year-old rock
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NASA rover reveals signs of crucial life-sustaining process on Mars
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Scientists reveal 'most promising yet' signs of alien life on planet k2-18b
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Mars rises over the moon's horizon at the best possible time
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Mercury is weird because of a 'hit-and-run' incident in its youth
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Scientists reveal 'most promising yet' signs of alien life on planet k2-18b
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James Webb telescope could find signs of life on alien 'hycean' ocean worlds
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'Extremely Large Telescope' being built in Chile could detect signs of alien life in a single night
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4 tiny, Earth-like planets found circling 2nd-closest star system to us — and could be visited by future human generations
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James Webb telescope spots 'rogue' planet with a cake-like atmosphere barrelling through space without a star
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'Utterly cataclysmic': James Webb telescope spots 2 alien planets disintegrating before our eyes
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Exoplanet with iron rain has violent winds 'like something out of science fiction'
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'Like a family photo of our solar system': The James Webb telescope is watching 2 alien planets being born before our eyes
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Newly discovered super-Earth orbits in and out of its star's habitable zone. Could life survive its extreme climate?
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Powerful solar winds squish Jupiter's magnetic field 'like a giant squash ball'
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Jupiter's Great Red Spot is being squeezed, Hubble Telescope finds — and nobody knows why
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Asteroid 10 times bigger than the dinosaur-killing space rock smashed Jupiter's largest moon off its axis
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Jupiter's surreal clouds swirl in new van Gogh-esque view from NASA's Juno probe
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NASA's Juno probe reveals 'fire-breathing' lava lakes across Jupiter's volcanic moon Io
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James Webb Space Telescope spies strange shapes above Jupiter's Great Red Spot
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Is Jupiter's Great Red Spot an impostor? Giant storm may not be the original one discovered 350 years ago
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A telescope on Earth just took an unbelievable image of Jupiter's moon
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Space photo of the week: NASA sees a 'Platypus' move on Jupiter's moon Europa
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Life on Mars could survive — so long as you're one of these strange, hybrid lifeforms
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Curiosity rover finds largest carbon chains on Mars from 3.7 billion-year-old rock
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NASA rover reveals signs of crucial life-sustaining process on Mars
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Mars rises over the moon's horizon at the best possible time
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NASA rover watches 'fiendish' Martian 'dust devils' collide in rare case of extraterrestrial cannibalism
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These strange, hybrid Earth lifeforms could survive on Mars, new study hints
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Mars: Facts about the Red Planet, its moons, and possibilities for life
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Perseverance rover spots peculiar 'spider egg' rock on Mars — and scientists have no idea how it got there
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Longest molecules ever found on Mars may be remnants of building blocks of life
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Mercury is weird because of a 'hit-and-run' incident in its youth
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See Mercury's frigid north pole in extraordinary new images from the BepiColombo spacecraft
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9-mile-thick layer of solid diamonds may lurk beneath Mercury's surface, study hints
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It's the best time of year to spot Mercury. Here's how to find it.
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Mercury may have a 'potentially habitable' region below its surface, salty glaciers suggest
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Mercury is still shrinking after billions of years, and scientists can see its 'wrinkles'
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Mercury reaches its highest point in the sky this weekend. Here's how to see it.
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See Mercury's giant, comet-like tail in stunning new image as it passes close to the sun
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Mercury: Facts about the smallest planet
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James Webb telescope captures auroras on Neptune for first time ever
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Space photo of the week: 1st-ever close-up of Neptune is Voyager 2's final portrait of a planet
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Neptune keeps growing enormous dark and bright spots, and scientists don't know why
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All of Neptune's clouds have mysteriously disappeared, and the sun may be to blame
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Ghostly rings of Neptune shine in new James Webb Telescope images
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Neptune: The farthest planet from our sun
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Astronomers perplexed by plummeting temperatures in Neptune's atmosphere
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'Diamond rain' on Uranus and Neptune seems likely
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Scientists probe the weird, alien water inside of Uranus and Neptune
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How Pluto captured its largest moon Charon with a 10-hour icy 'kiss'
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James Webb Space Telescope deciphers the origins of Pluto's icy moon Charon
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Pluto's huge white 'heart' has a surprisingly violent origin, new study suggests
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Pluto may have an ice-spewing 'supervolcano' the size of Yellowstone, New Horizons data reveals
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When will Pluto complete its first orbit since its discovery?
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Ice volcanoes on Pluto may still be erupting
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Pluto's atmosphere is starting to disappear
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Rare plutonium from space found in deep-sea crust
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Interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua came from an 'alien Pluto,' new study suggests
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There's a weird, disappearing dark spot on Saturn's moon Enceladus
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We might have been completely wrong about the origin of Saturn's rings, new study claims
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Saturn's moon Titan may have a 6-mile-thick crust of methane ice — could life be under there?
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Saturn at opposition: How to see the ringed planet at its biggest and brightest this week
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Saturn's planet-wide storms driven by seasonal heating, Cassini probe reveals
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Enormous 'San Andreas fault' on Saturn's moon could help reveal signs of alien life
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Saturn's 'Death Star' moon Mimas may have an underground ocean scientists never believed could exist
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Mysterious 'magic' islands that come and go on Saturn's moon Titan finally have an explanation
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NASA finds key ingredient for life gushing out of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus
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Scientists finally know how long a day on Uranus is
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Icy moon of Uranus may have once hid watery secret, Voyager 2 archives reveal
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Scientists finally know why ultraviolent superstorms flare up on Uranus and Neptune
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A moon of Uranus could have a hidden ocean, James Webb Space Telescope finds
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Neptune isn't as blue as you think, and these new images of the planet prove it
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Space photo of the week: Uranus 'rings' in the New Year in stunning James Webb telescope image
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Raging 'polar vortex' discovered over Uranus' north pole for 1st time
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4 of Uranus' biggest moons have secret, underground oceans, new study suggests
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Uranus will vanish during 'lunar occultation' Wednesday night
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See Venus at its 'greatest brilliancy' this week — or wait until Sept. 2026
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Venus goes 'new moon' as it passes between Earth and the sun this weekend
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Venus, the 'love planet', will look extra special this Valentine's Day. Here's why.
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Japan loses contact with Akatsuki, humanity's only active Venus probe
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Molecule responsible for robbing Venus of its water may finally have been identified
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Venus is leaking carbon and oxygen, and scientists aren't totally sure why
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Photographer snaps extremely rare 'green flash' coming from Venus
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Wispy ice clouds may form above Venus' hellish surface
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Oxygen detected in Venus' hellish atmosphere
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