Planetary Science

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Neptune

Planets

Science & Research

The Solar System

NASA’s Webb Captures Neptune’s Auroras For First Time

Long-sought auroral glow finally emerges under Webb’s powerful gaze For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune. Auroras occur when energetic particles, often originating from the Sun, become trapped in a planet’s magnetic field and eventually strike the upper atmosphere.

Posted March 26, 2025

Astrobiology

Curiosity (Rover)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars

Mars Exploration Program

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Missions

NASA Centers & Facilities

NASA Directorates

Planets

Science & Research

Science Mission Directorate

The Search for Life

The Solar System

The Universe

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Detects Largest Organic Molecules Found on Mars

Researchers analyzing pulverized rock onboard NASA’s Curiosity rover have found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests prebiotic chemistry may have advanced further on Mars than previously observed.

Posted March 24, 2025

Lucy

Missions

New Modeling Assesses Age of Next Target Asteroid for NASA’s Lucy

Although NASA’s Lucy spacecraft’s upcoming encounter with the asteroid Donaldjohanson is primarily a mission rehearsal for later asteroid encounters, a new paper suggests that this small, main belt asteroid may have some surprises of its own.

Posted March 17, 2025

Astrophysics Division

Hubble Space Telescope

The Kuiper Belt

NASA’s Hubble Finds Kuiper Belt Duo May Be Trio

The puzzle of predicting how three gravitationally bound bodies move in space has challenged mathematicians for centuries, and has most recently been popularized in the novel and television show “3 Body Problem.” There’s no problem, however, with what a team of researchers say is likely a stable trio of icy space rocks in the solar […]

Posted March 4, 2025

Lucy

The Solar System

Trojan Asteroids

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Takes Its 1st Images of Asteroid Donaldjohanson

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has its next flyby target, the small main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, in its sights. By blinking between images captured by Lucy on Feb. 20 and 22, this animation shows the perceived motion of Donaldjohanson relative to the background stars as the spacecraft rapidly approaches the asteroid.

Posted February 25, 2025

Opportunities For Educators to Get Involved

Science Activation

Sharing PLANETS Curriculum with Out-of-School Time Educators

Out of school time (OST) educators work with youth in afterschool, community, and camp programs. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning in OST can be challenging for multiple reasons, including lack of materials and support for educators.

Posted February 25, 2025

Science Mission Directorate

Astrobiology

Europa

Europa Clipper

The Solar System

Is There Potential for Life on Europa? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 52

That’s a great question. And it’s a question that NASA will seek to answer with the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Europa is a moon of Jupiter. It’s about the same size as Earth’s Moon, but its surface looks very different. The surface of Europa is covered with a layer of ice, and below that ice, we […]

Posted February 25, 2025

Science Mission Directorate