Latest Planets News

Catch a partial lunar eclipse during September’s supermoon

Sep. 14, 2024 09:01 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Get ready for a partial lunar eclipse and supermoon, all rolled into one. The spectacle will be visible in clear skies across North America and South America Tuesday night and in Africa and Europe Wednesday morning. A partial lunar eclipse happens...

NASA spacecraft to study Jupiter moon's underground ocean cleared for October launch

Sep. 09, 2024 18:21 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA on Monday approved next month’s launch to Jupiter’s moon Europa after reviewing the spacecraft’s ability to withstand the intense radiation there. Questions about the reliability of the transistors on the Europa Clipper spacecraft arose...

Tiny glass beads suggest the moon had active volcanoes when dinosaurs roamed Earth

Sep. 05, 2024 14:29 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth, new research suggests. The evidence: three tiny glass beads plucked from the surface of the moon and brought to Earth in 2020 by a Chinese spacecraft. Their chemical makeup indicates that there...

New research suggests volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth

Sep. 05, 2024 14:17 PM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — New research suggests volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth.

Small, harmless asteroid burns up in Earth's atmosphere over the Philippines

Sep. 05, 2024 00:52 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A small asteroid discovered on Wednesday harmlessly burned up in Earth's atmosphere the same day, NASA said. The asteroid — about 3 feet (1 meter) across — was spotted by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the coast of the Philippines hours after the...

August's supermoon is the first of four lunar spectacles

Aug. 20, 2024 10:24 AM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Monday's supermoon is the first of four this year. During a supermoon, the full moon inches a little closer than usual to Earth. A supermoon isn’t bigger, but it can appear that way in the night sky, although scientists say the difference can be...

August's supermoon kicks off four months of lunar spectacles. Here's how to watch

Aug. 15, 2024 13:40 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first of four supermoons this year rises next week, providing tantalizing views of Earth’s constant companion. Stargazers can catch the first act Monday as the full moon inches a little closer than usual, making it appear slightly bigger and...

International astronomy group joins calls for a lunar clock to keep time on the moon

Aug. 15, 2024 12:41 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time moves a tad faster on the moon. Now an international group of astronomers has joined calls to give the moon its own clock so that future space missions can keep track of minutes on the celestial body. The International Astronomical Union voted Thursday...

New Mars study suggests an ocean's worth of water may be hiding beneath the red dusty surface

Aug. 12, 2024 18:59 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean, new research suggests. The findings released Monday are based on seismic measurements from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which...

Book Review: 'Secret Life of the Universe' is a primer on search for life beyond Earth

Aug. 12, 2024 12:04 PM EDT

As director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute, astrobiologist Nathalie A. Cabrol's work is focused on answering the question of whether we're alone in the universe. In “The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and...