pluto

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Exploration

Space & Innovation

A special delivery of data from deep in the solar system arrived on Earth this week, as details begin trickling in about a little world known as MU69.

NASA's New Horizons Promises a Treasure Trove of Data on Ultima Thule

Far out in the solar system, just as Earth was ringing in the New Year, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by a distant little world that looks a red snowman.

NASA's New Horizons Arrives at the Farthest World Ever Visited

NASA/JPL-Caltech

DENVER — Small but rowdy space rocks pushing and jostling one another may have created the unusual orbits some astronomers cite as the signature of the hypothesized "Planet Nine," a new study suggests.

The Gravity From Small Objects, Not Planet Nine, Explains Weird Orbits

NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

At its heart, Pluto may be a gigantic comet.

Pluto May Have Formed From a Billion Comets

In July of 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto.

Pluto’s Mysterious Atmosphere Could Help Us Fix Global Warming

Transport

Fusion-powered rockets that are only the size of a few refrigerators could one day help propel spacecraft at high speeds to nearby planets or even other stars, a NASA-funded spaceflight company says.

Compact Fusion Rockets Could Be the Future of Interplanetary Space Missions

Planets

Distant Dwarf Planet DeeDee Stirs Up the Pluto Planethood Debate

Way back in 2015, NASA's New Horizon's mission flew by the dwarf planet, Pluto.

Pluto Could Be Made A Planet Again, Along With 102 Other Celestial Bodies

Way back in 2015, NASA's New Horizon's mission flew by the dwarf planet, Pluto. At the time, scientists felt they had this planet figured out. But the images and accompanying data they got from the mission completely blew their minds.Since 2006 when the International Astronomical Union updated their classification of the word "planet" there's been a huge debate in the public, and in the scientific community, about the fate of dwarf planets.  The IAU says a planet has to be a sun-orbiting body that is massive enough to be round, and will have cleared its orbit -- meaning nothing gets in the way as it goes around the sun.But now, a new paper purports to change everything when it comes to planetary classification. The paper, published in Lunar and Planetary Science, declares a planet as a round body that's never undergone fusion, and has less mass than a star. That's it. This means, Pluto would be planet again-- But it would also bring along Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumea... as well as 97 other objects.Read More:Seeker: <a href="http://www.seeker.com/behind-the-push-to-get-pluto-its-planetary-groove-back-2290287200.html" target="_blank">Behind the Push to Get Pluto Its Planetary Groove Back</a>Science Alert: <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-have-proposed-a-new-definition-for-planets-and-it-could-change-everything">NASA Scientists Have Proposed a New Definition of Planets, and Pluto Could Soon Be Back</a>Space.com: <a href="http://www.space.com/9553-pluto-planet-experts-weigh.html" target="_blank">Should Pluto Be a Planet After All? Experts Weigh In</a>

When New Horizons whizzed by Pluto in 2015, images from the spacecraft revealed a geologist's dream.

Prickly Pluto Could Reveal Ice Spikes Are Common on Other Worlds

Space weather can be a nightmare for planetary atmospheres, particularly for ones that don't have a magnetic field to protect them - unlike Earth's, which has a powerful magnetosphere acting as a shield.

Charon Is Pluto's First Line of Defense Against Solar Wind Onslaught

Two weeks after scientists with NASA's New Horizons mission published research showing that Pluto may have an underground ocean, another team has an alternative explanation for how the planet's distinctive heart-shaped basin formed.

pluto

NASA's New Horizons Promises a Treasure Trove of Data on Ultima Thule

It will take 20 months to receive all of the spacecraft's data on the distant world, which could offer insights into the formation of our solar system.

NASA's New Horizons Arrives at the Farthest World Ever Visited

The spacecraft flew by a distant little world dubbed “Ultima Thule” that looks like a red snowman.

The Gravity From Small Objects, Not Planet Nine, Explains Weird Orbits

The gravitational pull of thousands of small space rocks, rather than a massive, unseen planet, could be creating the odd orbits of objects in the Kuiper Belt.

Pluto May Have Formed From a Billion Comets

The planet’s chemical makeup appears to have been formed from comets and other Kuiper Belt objects, according to research on its vast nitrogen-ice glacier Sputnik Planitia.

Pluto’s Mysterious Atmosphere Could Help Us Fix Global Warming

Pluto’s haze is incredibly effective at cooling the planet and scientists think we can apply its principles on Earth to fight climate change. Do you think it can work?

Compact Fusion Rockets Could Be the Future of Interplanetary Space Missions

Fusion technology can enable exciting robotic and human missions to Mars and Pluto, and may potentially provide a means of making interstellar space travel possible.

Distant Dwarf Planet DeeDee Stirs Up the Pluto Planethood Debate

Recent observations that a tiny object in our solar system is a likely dwarf planet has some planetary scientists grumbling again about Pluto's demotion to that status.

Pluto Could Be Made A Planet Again, Along With 102 Other Celestial Bodies

According to this new definition, if Pluto becomes a planet, then our moon will too!

Pluto Could Be Made A Planet Again, Along With 102 Other Celestial Bodies

According to this new definition, if Pluto becomes a planet, then our moon will too!

Prickly Pluto Could Reveal Ice Spikes Are Common on Other Worlds

NASA's New Horizons mission has revealed, for the first time, evidence of ice features known as "penitentes" beyond Earth.

Charon Is Pluto's First Line of Defense Against Solar Wind Onslaught

Lacking a strong magnetic shield, Pluto's thin atmosphere is being eroded into space — but Charon is doing its bit to protect its dwarf planet buddy.

Pluto's Heavy Heart, Not a Massive Impact, Caused Its Depression

The new finding raises questions about whether Pluto really does have a subsurface ocean.