Live Science keeps you up-to-date with the amazing discoveries astronomers are making about the planets in our universe, from Earth and its solar system sisters to distant exoplanets thousands of light-years away.
Our expert writers and editors report on the discovery of planets more hospitable to life than Earth, research suggesting an unknown "captured" alien planet may be hiding at the edge of our solar system, why the jury is still out on Planet Nine, and even what color the sunset is on other planets. So, whatever your cosmic curiosities, there's sure to be something that captivates you in the latest planet news, features and articles.
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Latest about Planets
How Pluto captured its largest moon Charon with a 10-hour icy 'kiss'
Pluto may have got romantic to capture its largest moon, colliding and engaging in a passionate but icy 10 hour kiss with Charon billions of years ago.
How to watch the full Wolf Moon 'swallow' Mars in the sky tonight — no telescope required
Tonight (Jan. 13), bright Mars will disappear behind the full Wolf Moon for several hours before reappearing on the other side. It's the only lunar occultation of Mars visible from the U.S. this year. Here's how to get the most out of it.
See Mercury's frigid north pole in extraordinary new images from the BepiColombo spacecraft
A joint Japanese-European mission to Mercury just made its sixth flyby of the planet, revealing stunning close-ups of the permanently shadowed craters at Mercury's north pole.
Giant 'kidney beans' spotted in Mars satellite images could point to signs of water and life
A NASA satellite has spotted frozen "kidney beans" on Mars' sand dunes trapped in place until springtime. Photographing them can help us determine if there was ever enough water on Mars to sustain life.
Mars at opposition: See the Red Planet at its best and brightest this week — or wait until 2027
As Mars approaches opposition this week, it will become a dazzling spectacle in the night sky. See it at its best now, or wait until 2027.
Mars rock samples may contain evidence of alien life, but can NASA get them back to Earth?
NASA will explore two different strategies for fetching Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover, and there's a chance these samples contain evidence of alien life.
How to see 6 planets in 1 night all through January — and a bonus 7th planet in March
Worlds will align for a "planetary parade" in January, with four bright and easily visible to the naked eye. But an even better view arrives in February and March. Here's what you need to know.
10 amazing things we found on Mars in 2024, from hundreds of 'spiders' to a 'Martian dog'
From arachnid-like formations and mysterious blobs to an underground ocean and a giant volcano, here are our 10 favorite things scientists discovered on Mars this year.
There's a weird, disappearing dark spot on Saturn's moon Enceladus
"After staring at dozens and dozens of image pairs, she found something interesting."
'Mathematically perfect' star system discovered 105 light-years from Earth may still be in its infancy. Could that change its prospects for life?
Once thought to be 8 billion years old, the star HD 110067 — famous for its six synchronized exoplanets — may be only 2.5 billion years old, new research suggests.
