Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 15, 2021

Solar Orbiter spacecraft sends postcard from Venus in flyby video

The sun-exploring spacecraft Solar Orbiter has captured this video of a glowing crescent of Venus as it flew past the planet during an orbit adjustment maneuver on Aug 9. The video was taken by Solar Orbiter's Heliospheric Imager, or SoloHI, as the joint European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA satellite zipped by...

Aug 26, 2021

Venus and a newly discovered comet will cross paths in December. Will sparks fly?

Venus is Earth's twisted twin in so many ways, what about on the skywatching front? Alas, stargazing isn't great from the Venusian surface: The thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere that blankets the planet means there's no catching a break in the clouds. But above those clouds — where, come to think of...

Oct 14, 2021

Life on Venus may never have been possible

Venus may not be such a tantalizing target for alien hunters after all. In recent years, researchers have increasingly come to regard Venus, the second rock from the sun, as a potential abode for life. For example, modeling studies have suggested that ancient Venus had big oceans and a clement...

Dec 18, 2021

Comet Leonard may have spawned meteor shower on Venus

Comet Leonard may be sparking meteor showers at Venus this weekend during a relatively close approach of the comet to the planet. Officially known as comet C/2021 A1, also known as Comet Leonard was discovered in January by astronomer Gregory J. Leonard of the Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory in Arizona....

Feb 11, 2022

NASA captures stunning, first of a kind images of Venus' surface

Stunning images snapped by NASA's Parker Solar Probe have given the very first visible light glimpse of Venus' red-hot surface, revealing continents, plains and plateaus on the inhospitable volcanic world. Peering beneath the thick and toxic Venusian clouds with the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument, NASA scientists...

May 2, 2022

Fuzzy 'halo' envelops Venus as it cozies up to Jupiter in photo of planetary conjunction

An astrophotographer captured a beautiful picture of two planets aligned in the sky above Rome — and a little rain didn't stop him. Gianluca Masi spotted Venus and Jupiter hiding behind a thin cloud shortly after scuttling a planned livestream of the conjunction Sunday (May 1) on his astronomy broadcast...

May 11, 2022

Venus: Facts about the hellish planet next door

Venus is a hot and hellish world and the second planet from the sun. The Earth-size planet could be considered our twin if not for its thick, toxic atmosphere and surface temperatures that are hot enough to melt lead. Despite such extremes, researchers have long wondered if organisms could exist...

Jun 7, 2022

Venus crossed the sun's face 10 years ago. Most people alive will never see the sight again.

For many of us, the past two years have delivered a lesson in not taking things for granted. The chaos of the pandemic disrupted relationships, trade and the privileges we often enjoy without a second thought. As a resolute chaser of celestial spectacles, I've spent my career traveling to witness...

Jan 3, 2013

Bright Clouds on Uranus

The false colors in this image indicate altitude. The green and blue regions show where the atmosphere is clear, allowing sunlight to penetrate deep into Uranus. In the yellow and gray regions, a haze or cloud layer is reflecting sunlight away. Orange and red colors indicate very high clouds, like...

Aug 29, 2013

First 'Trojan' Asteroid Companion of Uranus Found

Astronomers have discovered an unexpected, novel kind of triangle in the sky — one whose points are the sun, Uranus and the first Trojan asteroid ever seen near the tilted planet. The discovery of the Trojan asteroid for Uranus suggests Uranus and Neptune could have far more such asteroid companions...

Apr 10, 2017

Auroras on Uranus Dazzle in New Hubble Telescope Views

Uranus is not just a featureless ball of bluish-green gas. Bright auroras light up the planet's atmosphere in two newly released photos, which combine observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the agency's Voyager 2 probe. (Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986 as part of a grand tour of...

Jul 8, 2017

Uranus May Have Odd, Strobe-Like Magnetic Field

The planet Uranus just keeps getting weirder. The icy gas world that strangely orbits the sun on its side may also have a wonky magnetic field that constantly flickers on and off, new research suggests. Magnetic fields around planets, or magnetospheres, create shields against the bombardment of radiation from the...

Apr 23, 2018

No Joke: Uranus Smells Terrible, Study Says

Uranus smells like rotten eggs, and that is not a joke. A new study finds that the seventh planet from the sun has an upper atmosphere flush with hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide is a gas best known for its repulsive smell; the gas emanates from sewers and volcanoes on Earth,...

Jan 24, 2019

How Did Uranus End Up On Its Side?

Uranus is arguably the most mysterious planet in the solar system – we know very little about it. So far, we have only visited the planet once, with the Voyager 2 spacecraft back in 1986. The most obvious odd thing about this ice giant is the fact that it is...

Jun 25, 2019

Uranus Is a Weirdo — And So Are Its Rings

Uranus is a weirdo — the icy giant rotates while lying on its side and it's been called a rear end in even the highest echelons of academia (right?). Now, astronomers have found it has an oddball ring system, too. In new images of the rings around Uranus (the seventh...