Tag: The Solar System

How Can I See the Northern Lights? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 54

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2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) How can I see the northern lights? To see the northern lights, you need to be in the right place at the right time. Auroras are the result of charged particles and magnetism from the Sun called space weather dancing with the Earth’s magnetic field. And they happen far above the clouds. So you need clear skies, good space weather at your latitude and the higher, more polar you can be, the better. You need a lot of patience…

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

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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. Scientists probed an existing rock sample inside Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) mini-lab and found the molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane. These compounds, which are made up of 10, 11, and 12 carbons, respectively, are thought to be the fragments of fatty acids that…

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The Next Full Moon is the Worm Moon

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Skywatching Science Skywatching The Next Full Moon is the Worm… Skywatching Home What’s Up What to See Tonight Moon Guide Eclipses Meteor Showers More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ   22 Min Read The Next Full Moon is the Worm Moon Cockspur Island Lighthouse in Savannah, Georgia, on a full moon night in March 2019. Credits: NPS/Joel Cadoff The next full moon is called the Worm Moon. Also, there will be a total lunar eclipse this full moon. The Moon will be full early Friday morning, March 14, at 2:55…

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What’s Up: March 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA

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Skywatching Science Skywatching What’s Up: March 2025… Skywatching Home What’s Up What to See Tonight Moon Guide Eclipses Meteor Showers More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ   A Fast-Moving Planet and a Crimson Moon! Catch Mercury if you can, then stay up late for a total lunar eclipse, and learn the truth about the dark side of the Moon. Skywatching Highlights All Month – Planets Visibility: Mercury: Speedy Mercury is visible beneath Venus for the first week and a half of March, for about 30 minutes each evening, as sunset…

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What You Need To Know About the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse

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4 min read What You Need To Know About the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse The Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow and appear to turn red on the night of March 13 or early in the morning of March 14, depending on time zone. Here’s what you need to know about the total lunar eclipse. The March 2025 total lunar eclipse will take place between late night on March 13 and early morning on March 14 across several time zones. In this data visualization, the Moon moves from right…

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NASA Juno Mission Spots Most Powerful Volcanic Activity on Io to Date

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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A massive hotspot — larger the Earth’s Lake Superior — can be seen just to the right of Io’s south pole in this annotated image taken by the JIRAM infrared imager aboard NASA’s Juno on Dec. 27, 2024, during the spacecraft’s flyby of the Jovian moon. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM Even by the standards of Io, the most volcanic celestial body in the solar system, recent events observed on the Jovian moon are extreme. Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission have discovered a…

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NASA’s Webb Reveals Smallest Asteroids Yet Found in Main Asteroid Belt

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Illustration of the main asteroid belt, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter NASA NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope includes asteroids on its list of objects studied and secrets revealed.  A team led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge repurposed Webb’s observations of a distant star to reveal a population of small asteroids — smaller than astronomers had ever detected orbiting the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The 138 new asteroids range from the size of a bus to the size of a…

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NASA DAVINCI Mission’s Many ‘Firsts’ to Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets

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5 Min Read NASA DAVINCI Mission’s Many ‘Firsts’ to Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets The surface of Venus is an inferno with temperatures hot enough to melt lead. This image is a composite of data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer Venus Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s DAVINCI — Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging — mission embodies the spirit of innovation and exploration that its namesake, Leonardo da Vinci, was famous for. Scheduled to launch in the early 2030s, DAVINCI will explore Venus with both a spacecraft…

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Sinister Solar System

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1 Min Read Sinister Solar System A witch appears to be screaming in space in this image from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Credits: NASA/WISE Our universe is full of mysterious sights. Explore some of our most frightful finds from past Halloweens. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Solar System Exploration Europa Clipper Europa Clipper will search for signs of potential habitability on Jupiter’s icy ocean moon Europa. Europa Jupiter About the Author NASA Science Editorial Team Share Details Last Updated Oct 24, 2024 Related Terms The Solar…

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