Solar System

NASA Psyche Mission set to launch in Oct 2023 with new flight plan

Estimated to land in August 2029, the metal-rich 16 Psyche asteroid will be the subject of the mission's 26-month exploration

NASA's Webb telescope spots its first Earth-like exoplanet: Researchers

Researchers have confirmed an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope for the first time

Scientists compile Cassini's solar occultation observations of Saturn rings

Scientists have compiled 41 solar occultation observations of Saturn's rings from the Cassini mission.

All you need to know about India's first dark sky reserve in Ladakh

Government plans to promote astronomy tourism at the reserve, which is located in Hanle in Ladakh

James Webb telescope captures 'incredible' images of Jupiter: See photos

The latest photos show Jupiter's signature elements, such as northern and southern lights, swirling polar haze, and regions of extreme temperature

If Earth's communication is hit in coming days, blame the sun

On March 13, a large solar flare was released, and it travelled towards Earth at around 600 km per second

Asteroids: Risk & reward

Humans have been experimenting with the idea of space mining for several decades

Even in India's sunny cities, rooftop solar systems come under a cloud

Inconsistent regulatory policies, high costs, patchy implementation of subsidy scheme and lack of awareness are some of the hurdles

Nasa spacecraft touches asteroid surface to return alien samples to Earth

While the mission has been a success so far, it will take about a week for the OSIRIS-REx team to confirm how much samples the spacecraft collected. The goal is to gather at least 60 grams

Looking beyond for life

The recent announcement of the presence of phosphine - a biosignature - in the upper part of Venus' thick atmosphere has revived the age-old question: Are we alone?

16-sec-action, 334 mn km away: Osiris to grab 1st asteroid sample on Oct 20

A well-preserved time capsule from the early solar system, asteroid Bennu could hold answers to the origin of our sun, its planets, and ultimately life as we know it

Mars to be opposite, closest to Sun on October 13

Planet Mars will be opposite and closest to the Sun in the sky on October 13.On that date, Mars will be at opposition -- opposite the Sun in the sky. Earth will be situated directly between Mars and the Sun. As a result, Mars will rise as the Sun sets and sets as the Sun rises, according to Sky & Telescope.Opposition -- the most significant Martian date on stargazers' calendars -- is also when the planet is at its brightest and near its maximum apparent size in telescopes. Because of the shapes and orientations of the planets' orbits, however, Mars and Earth were actually closest on Tuesday, October 6, separated by just 62 million kilometres, said Sky & Telescope.For Mars, it is more than 160 times farther than the Moon. The planet would not be this near us again until 2035.Mars oppositions occur at roughly 26-month intervals when Earth catches up to Mars as the planets circle the Sun.This year's opposition is special because it occurs close to when Mars reaches the point .

Some planets may have more suitable conditions for life than Earth: Study

Scientists have identified 24 planets outside our solar system that they say may have conditions more suitable for life than the Earth

Sun enters 25th solar cycle: 'Violent eruptions can happen anytime'

Solar cycle predictions hold significance as it gives a rough idea of the frequency of space weather storms of all types

Surprising number of exoplanets could host life, new study reveals

Our solar system has one habitable planet -- Earth. According to a new study, other stars could have as many as seven Earth-like planets in the absence of a gas giant like Jupiter.

Solar Orbiter sends closest images of Sun, reveals mysterious 'campfires'

As the spacecraft flew within 48 million miles of the Sun, all 10 instruments flicked on, and Solar Orbiter snapped the closest pictures of the giant star to date

In a 1st, water found on potentially habitable planet outside solar system

The planet orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18, which is about 110 light years from Earth in the Leo constellation, researchers said

Life on Saturn's moons Titan, Enceladus: NASA's next solar system mission

NASA says it is reviewing 12 proposals for future unmanned solar system mission

NASA picks 4 teams to study solar system, manned space exploration

NASA will set aside about $5 million per year to fund the teams' research for the next 5 years

Solar system with 7 Earth-like planets found: Here's what they may be like

Scientists have documented a star surrounded by no fewer than seven Earth-like planets