Tidally locked planets always present the same face to their host stars. What does this mean for their potential to support life?
orbits
Posted inNews
Peculiar Planets Prefer Perpendicular Paths
Some exoplanets orbit their stars from pole to pole instead of across the equator. Why do they do that?
Posted inNews
Fifteen Years of Radar Reveal Venus’s Most Basic Facts
Venus’s heavy atmosphere tugs the planet’s surface enough to change the length of its day by up to 21 minutes.
Posted inNews
Martian Meteorites Shed Light on Solar System’s Early Dynamics
Chemical compositions of rocks from Mars indicate that the earliest orbits of Jupiter and Saturn were more circular than they are today.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Energetic Neutral Atom Emissions from Jupiter, Io, and Europa
The first Jovian off-equator Energetic Neutral Atom viewings reveal distinct emissions from Jupiter and the orbits of Io and Europa: Energetic particle injections surprisingly occur inside Io’s orbit.
Posted inNews
Sunburned Surface Reveals Asteroid Formation and Orbital Secrets
Thanks to spectacular high-resolution images from Hayabusa2, scientists can now better estimate how and when the asteroid Ryugu formed, how its orbit has changed over time, and what its surface looks like.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Atmospheric Drag Alters Satellite Orbits
A new modeling study shows how the density of the thermosphere influences the paths of satellites in low Earth orbit.
Posted inNews
Earth’s Eccentric Orbit Helped Preserve Rare Soft-Tissue Fossils
Cyclical changes in Earth’s orbit helped to preserve rare fossils in Morocco.
Posted inFeatures
Kepler: A Giant Leap for Exoplanet Studies
NASA's low-cost space telescope opened up a universe of possibilities for scientists who scour space in search of planets—and possibly life.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Did the Moon Get Its Shape?
Scientists find a solution to a 200-year-old problem: syncing the prominent bulges on the Moon with our natural satellite's origins.