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![an illustration of planets in the solar system](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2oiZ8TVeDvfjohwkB7UdtT-320-80.jpg)
Which planet is closest to the sun?
By Briley Lewis published
Mercury takes only 88 Earth days to orbit the sun.
![A blue haze partially covers the view of a large planet. A smaller orb, a star, passes in the upper left.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XjE3Ky9ybgaf7VdvDwkaST-320-80.jpg)
Newly discovered super-Earth orbits in and out of its star's habitable zone. Could life survive its extreme climate?
By Keith Cooper published
The climate on such a world must be beyond bizarre.
![Illustration of a satellite in front of Mars.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/noGPBeiesShBnyjRceGvxF-320-80.jpg)
Mars quiz: Is your knowledge of the Red Planet out of this world?
By Harry Baker published
Think you know Mars? Test your knowledge of our neighboring planet's size, surface, history and more.
![coronal hole on the surface of the sun on Jan. 28.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mUNHuS5gMtTABKKByDWGCA-320-80.jpg)
Gigantic 500,000-mile 'hole' in the sun's atmosphere aims aurora-sparking solar wind at Earth (photo)
By Daisy Dobrijevic published
The gigantic coronal hole is blasting high-speed solar wind toward Earth, potentially igniting vibrant auroras and minor geomagnetic activity on Jan. 31.
![A photo of a Tesla floating in space with a spacesuit-clas mannequin in the driver's seat](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uYDYyWe8M2eNmN7DSKaWik-320-80.jpg)
Newly discovered near-Earth asteroid isn't an asteroid at all — it's Elon Musk's trashed Tesla
By Harry Baker published
Astronomers have retracted the discovery of a new asteroid after realizing the object was the remains of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster and its driver "Starman," which were launched into space in 2018.
![An illustration shows a CT scan of the universe with "slices" of the cosmos as it evolves](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NGHBC8UZUAoG6vtgJfrKkB-320-80.png)
A cosmic 'CT scan' shows the universe is far more complex than expected
By Robert Lea published
"This process is like a cosmic CT scan, where we can look through different slices of cosmic history and track how matter clumped together at different epochs."
![An illustration shows seven little red dot galaxies embedded in the cosmic web, one of which is dominated by a supermassive black hole.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/T9CiuXKJMvy9Pa2HLTqzTF-320-80.png)
Supermassive black holes in 'little red dot' galaxies are 1,000 times larger than they should be, and astronomers don't know why
By Robert Lea published
"Our measurements imply that the supermassive black hole mass is 10% of the stellar mass in the galaxies we studied."
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