When it came to discovering Neptune, scientists didn’t need to see to believe. The eighth planet in our solar system was detected, not with telescopes, but through math. In 1846, scientists had observed irregularities in Uranus’ orbit, as if an invisible counterweight were tugging on the planet from the far side. From these observations, researchers […]
Pluto is probably best known for being a demoted planet. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union stripped it of its original classification, after narrowing the definition of a planet to be one that clears its orbit with its gravitational heft. Pluto doesn’t meet this membership criterion because its orbit is peppered with other icy bodies […]
Jay Bennett Former associate web editor, science. In the aftermath of hurricane winds and rains, under clear conditions in Cape Canaveral, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket blasted into the sky carrying NASA’s newest interplanetary spacecraft: Europa Clipper. Designed to determine whether Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon is habitable, the spacecraft is equipped with a suite of cameras […]
Saturn comes second to Jupiter in many respects—in size, age, prominence of stripes—but in terms of scientific intrigue, it most certainly can hold its own. Saturn stokes scientific interest not simply as a planet, but a system. Among its appealing qualities, Saturn has a lush ring and tantalizing moons that potentially harbor life. Space scientists […]
Carlyn Kranking Assistant Editor, Science and Innovation Beginning to familiarize yourself with the night sky can feel daunting—with so many pinpricks of light above, parsing the constellations or identifying individual stars can be a lofty task. One starting point is to learn to find the brightest ones. In a rural sky dense with stars, the […]
