Articles

Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.

See JWST's amazing first science images

These are some of the first science images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), released on July 12, 2022.

See JWST’s first deep field image

Bill Nye's reflections on the first deep field image from NASA's JWST mission.

JWST versus Hubble: How are they different?

Unlike Hubble, JWST was primarily designed to see the universe in infrared light, revealing ancient galaxies, peering through nebulae, and uncovering exoplanet atmospheres.

Breaking new ground

Whether it’s a mission, a policy decision, or an individual person, sometimes all it takes is one thing to change the way we explore.

Persevering through it all

Exploration will always face setbacks, but this week’s Downlink reminds us of the impressive human ability to persevere.

First steps and big leaps

Technological innovation is a big part of the fun of space exploration, and you can help make it happen.

Artist concept of the surface of TRAPPIST-1f

What might JWST reveal about TRAPPIST-1?

We spoke with the scientists leading the first observations of TRAPPIST-1 using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in order to understand what mysteries their observations will help unlock.

Your cosmic community

There’s no limit to what a community of like-minded space enthusiasts, advocates and even famous luminaries can achieve when we all work together.

Join the exoparty

With new instruments and a growing number of discoveries, exoplanet and exomoon research is just getting started.

An ice giant and its dwarf companion

Neptune and Triton come into focus as destinations worth exploring.

What light through yonder prism splits?

Discover how we use light to look for signs of life beyond Earth, and meet the newest batch of Planetary Society-funded asteroid hunters.

So much more than meets the eye

Space is even more spectacular when you can see beyond what the eye can behold.

Shoot for the moon that shoots back

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has some intriguing features: snow, ice, geysers, stripes and much more, all waiting to be further explored.

What sci-fi dreams are made of

From a space station cemetery to a super-resilient spacecraft, the feats of human ingenuity that make space exploration possible are the stuff of science fiction dreams.