A layer of haze keeps Pluto’s atmosphere extremely cold
15 November 2017
Pluto is far from the sun, so astronomers expect its atmosphere to be cold, but it's colder than predicted. Now we know that soot sends the sun’s heat back into space
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Found 393 results for dwarf planet
We've just found a nearby exoplanet that could be right for life
15 November 2017
A newly discovered nearby world is probably close in size and temperature to Earth. This exoplanet might be able to host life because of its unusually calm star
Dawn spacecraft approved to spend another year studying Ceres
25 October 2017
NASA has extended the mission of the Dawn probe around the icy dwarf planet Ceres. It will dip toward Ceres's surface and study its tenuous atmosphere
Volcanoes that spew stretchy ice could make dwarf planets bright
20 October 2017
Something strange is happening on dwarf planets Eris and Makemake. They’re tiny and cold, but they still show surprising signs of geologic activity, like real planets
Distant dwarf planet near Pluto has a ring that no one expected
11 October 2017
The tiny world Haumea has a ring, the most distant we’ve found in our solar system. This may mean rings encircle other far-off worlds in the solar system
The mysterious bright spots on Ceres may have a common origin
2 October 2017
The dwarf planet Ceres is dappled with mysterious bright splotches. Their make-up varies with location, but they may all come from the same process
60 Seconds
13 September 2017
Pluto's features named, coral's historical decline, animal's evolutionary head start, and more
Nine probes reached the outer solar system: Where are they now?
12 September 2017
Besides Cassini, eight missions have passed the asteroid belt – and several are still broadcasting from the furthest solar system and beyond
Nudge factor
23 August 2017
My 8-year-old son is very worried about Earth being destroyed by the sun when it becomes a red giant billions of years from now. I have tried to comfort him by suggesting we could shift Earth's orbit by hurling asteroids towards the planet on trajectories...
It could be snowing on Mars right now
21 August 2017
The Red Planet may have had intense snowstorms long ago when it was wetter, but a model shows it could still have violent snowfall at night when the clouds cool
