Planetary Science

A reappraisal of decades-old data suggests that strange circular formations on Venus could be volcanic “rings of fire” created by ongoing geological activity

After billions of dollars in spending and decades of planning, NASA may be forced to abandon precious samples of air, rock and soil on the Martian surface. Experts are furious

Leaked budget documents indicate that key NASA and NOAA research projects, such as crucial climate research and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, are at risk of being defunded in 2026

A group of comets with unexplained movements presents a quandary

A new way to measure the length of Uranus’s day could also help determine the rotation rates of other celestial objects—including exoplanets

According to new simulations, many, even most, planets get ejected from their star early in their history

The next year of science on the James Webb Space Telescope has been announced amid mounting budgetary uncertainty that could affect the unparalleled observatory

The threat from near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 may have subsided, but discoveries of other hazardous space rocks are set to soar as new observatories come online

Defining the word “moon” is harder than you might think

After its successful lunar touchdown, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost mission could soon be joined on the moon by two more commercial spacecraft

The question of whether aliens can detect our modern civilization depends on what signs they’re looking for—and, crucially, their distance from us

Planet demographics reveal a puzzling lack of worlds in a certain size range throughout the galaxy