Planets

The rocky planet, roughly twice Earth's size, has offered astronomers a glimpse of one of Earth’s possible futures — if it doesn’t get engulfed by our expanding sun.

NASA's Perseverance rover has sent home pictures of a mysterious black-and-white striped rock, the likes of which scientists have never seen before on Mars.

A new map that details gravitational anomalies on Mars has revealed 20 mysteriously dense blobs, including a dog-shaped mass, buried below the planet's north pole. And researchers have no clear idea where they came from.

"Our observations indicate the presence of powerful iron winds, probably fuelled by a hot spot in the atmosphere."

Researchers have recreated the bizarre spider-like features seen on the surface of Mars for the first time ever. The breakthrough could help unravel further mysteries surrounding the static Martian arachnids.

Unlike the other planets in the solar system, Mars is distinctly triaxial, meaning it is an ellipsoid with different sizes along all three axes.

Newly released images of Mars reveal a "smiley" salt deposit on the Red Planet's surface. A related study suggests that similar deposits, which were left behind from ancient lakes, may be a good place to look for signs of former life on Mars.

The Very Large Telescope in northern Chile imaged a "super-Jupiter" exoplanet called 2M1207b, precisely 20 years ago this week. This was the first direct visual confirmation of a world beyond our solar system.