Solar System
Latest about Solar System
![An artist's depiction of an intruder star disrupting an infant planetary system.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ibgzYheR7BpEAdvNx5shQM-320-80.jpg)
A 'runaway star' could save Earth from extinction a billion years from now. Here's how.
By Abha Jain published
Earth will become too hot to handle in a billion years. There's a (very) remote chance a passing star could save us by knocking our planet back into the habitable zone.
![NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare — as seen in the bright flash on the top right — on Oct. 2, 2022. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares and which is colorized in orange.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/k5SyxoUqNhTQwvuWdkHR9G-320-80.jpg)
The sun may be smaller than we thought
By Stephanie Pappas published
New calculations suggest the sun is a few fractions of a percent smaller than previously estimated, and that could change how we study it.
![Illustration of a 'runaway' white dwarf.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rqpUFxNZHwxhdrBziExw8i-320-80.jpg)
'Rogue' star hurtling through the Milky Way won't smash into our solar system after all
By Robert Lea published
A white dwarf spotted by the Gaia telescope was predicted to smash into our solar system in 29,000 years. But we'll be safe after all.
![A blurry image of a comet that appears to have two horns](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NKpnWpP4XPUhc5yDyNAAvS-320-80.jpg)
Volcanic 'devil comet' racing toward Earth resprouts its horns after erupting again
By Harry Baker published
The massive volcanic comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which grows giant horns when it erupts, has exploded for a third time in five months as it continues to race toward the sun.
![This mosaic shows part of the Noctis Labyrinthus region, the ‘Labyrinth of the Night’, on Mars. It was composed by Bill Dunford using scenes available in the Mars Express image archive, HRSCview.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Do9WUKtEqqrT4mM9BVh49V-320-80.jpg)
Soar through the 'Labyrinth of Night' — a Martian canyon the size of Italy — in thrilling new satellite video
By Briley Lewis published
See Mars' geology up close, thanks to decades of stunning images from the Mars Express satellite, in a new visualization of Noctis Labyrinthus, the 'Labyrinth of Night'.
![A large group of asteroids with the sun in the distance](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/R23gmpnmnxqeZGvmwHBw53-320-80.jpg)
Potential discovery of a dozen objects beyond Pluto could reveal a new section of the solar system we never knew about
By Harry Baker published
Astronomers may have detected a dozen large objects lurking beyond the Kuiper Belt at the edge of our solar system, suggesting there could be another equally massive, "second Kuiper Belt" hiding beyond the orbit of Pluto.
![A sunrise with a comet in the sky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4yTcr5WVTfqxKApWtYEUGn-320-80.jpg)
Green comet Nishimura survives its superheated slingshot around the sun. Will we get another chance to see it?
By Harry Baker published
Comet Nishimura, which was only discovered in August, has survived its closest approach to the sun and will brighten over the next week. But is it still visible from Earth?
![An illustration shows the Habitable Worlds Telescope in orbit around Earth with its starshade unfolded.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GFKrYPQRKNeGJL5YuYA88k-320-80.jpg)
NASA is hunting for life outside the solar system. Here's how.
By Robert Lea published
"We aren’t going to see little green men but rather spectral signatures of these key chemicals, or what we call biosignatures."
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