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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
Total solar eclipse 2024: Why it’s worth getting into the path of totality
There's no comparison between a partial solar eclipse and a total solar eclipse.
Storms and showers
Mars has storms of dust, while Saturn pours down ammonia rain. Here on Earth, we passed through a debris tail to get a special kind of shower.
Hasta la vista, baby
Terminators abound this week in space, and we’ll be back to Mars if NASA gets the budget it needs.
Are exoplanet 'terminator zones' a lead in the search for life?
Exoplanets with terminator zones are unusual worlds that may challenge our traditional understanding of habitability.
Life on Venus: Your Questions Answered
Is there life on Venus? Was our planetary neighbor ever inhabited? Here are the answers to your most pressing questions about the possibility of alien life on Venus.
That’s a mare
An unusual lunar feature, Saturn’s shining rings, and Mars’ complex gullies.
Speedy spacecraft and pretty pics
Take a look at some of our favorite recent space images and learn about an express mission to Mars.
Searching the skies to keep us all alive
Astronomers around the world are working to protect the Earth from asteroid impacts, with the help of Planetary Society members and donors.
Day and night, it’s all about starlight
This week in space: Mars days almost match up with ours, and light and molecules are created by distant stars.
Vladimir Benishek and the mystique of asteroid research
The Planetary Society Shoemaker NEO Grant winner learned from his mother and grandfather, while also forging his own path.
Why did we need OSIRIS-REx?
How OSIRIS-REx’s samples build upon our knowledge of asteroids and the early Solar System.
Asteroid samples from another world
The OSIRIS-REx team explains the journey home.
The scientific truth is out there
The real science of aliens, the policy implications of ET, and new views of worlds beyond our own.
Would you like some salty water with your space salad?
Two new grant-winning projects, a collection of awesome space imagery, a mighty plume, and much more this week in space.
Way out there
We’re always learning more about the worlds of the outer Solar System, and even those beyond.
Five asteroid deflection techniques to save the Earth
Kinetic impactor or nuclear blast? Here are some ways to defend our planet from a dangerous asteroid.
Moon-spying missions and a planetary evil twin
Whether they’re dedicated to it or not, planetary missions can get beautiful and informative glimpses at distant moons. And who’s the evil twin: Venus or Earth?
Hard-working spacecraft and even harder-working microbes
The Soyuz spacecraft have been helping humans get to and from space for decades, but that’s nothing compared to the billions of years that microorganisms have been making life on Earth possible.
How did Earth get its oxygen?
A tiny, Sun-loving microbe has made a very big impact on our atmosphere.
Moonshadow, Moonshadow
The Moon casts shadows on itself and on Earth, environmental concerns overshadow a test launch’s success, and exoplanets are awesome (beyond a shadow of a doubt).