Our Solar System

There are 9 main planets and countless comets and meteorites orbiting our Sun - all of which have some degree of influence on the ultimate destiny of the Earth. Recently, Pluto has been reclassified as a 'dwarf planet' , rather than a planet. Since 1992, planets have been found to be orbiting stars outside of our Solar System, and as of December 2011 over 700 such 'exoplanets' have been documented.

The Solar System:

Evolution of Our Solar System    Solar System geneology revealed by meteorites

Exploding star missing from formation of Solar System

Solar system's birth record revised    How old are the first planets?

New clues to the earlier Solar System from ancient meteorites    Two Solar System puzzles solved

Bern computer simulation helps to better understand the origin of our solar system

Understanding the turbulence of gases in planet-forming protoplanetary disks 

Lunar And Planetary Institute     Planetary Science Websites    JPL Solar System Dynamics

Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy     Naming of Astronomical Objects

NASA's Planetary Fact Sheets    NASA's Planets     Solar System's shield may be leaking

US planetary sciences to focus on smaller missions, research, and technology development    

Planetary Images    Google's collection of images from Planetary Science 

Nick Strobel's Planetary Tables    Nick Strobel's Astronomy Notes   

Planetary Science Research Discoveries    MIT's Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences 

High Planetary Tilt Lowers Odds for Life?   Solar System Ice: Source of Earth's Water?

NASA denies report that Voyager left solar system

Mercury:

A new look at the planet Mercury   Mercury's surprising core and landscape curiosities

MESSENGER team presents new Mercury findings at Planetary Conference

Scientists discover water ice on Mercury

Venus:

Venus Weather Not Boring After All   Surprises in the south polar vortex in the atmosphere of Venus 

Space weather: explosions on Venus  A magnetic surprise for Venus   

Venus Express website     Venus Express unearths new clues to the planet's geological history

The mysterious arc of Venus     The transit of Venus   A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus 

A new episode of active volcanism on Venus?

Earth's Moon:

A new view of an ancient habitable planet   

New research eclipses existing theories on the Moon formation  

The Moon was created in giant smashup   Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as Moon's sole parent  

Pre-existing mineralogy may survive lunar impacts    

Lunar impacts created seas of molten rock   GRAIL creates most accurate Moon gravity map

An impactor origin for lunar magnetic anomalies  NLSI scientists shed light on Moon's impact history 

Evolution of the Moon   Water on Moon, Earth came from same primitive meteorites  

Earth's other moons  

NASA Puts Earth's Nearest Neighbor, 'The Moon', Within Reach      A narrated tour of the Moon 

Earth's Moon (University of Arizona)      Looking at the Man in the Moon    Our Super Moon

X-rays illuminate the interior of the Moon   NASA spacecraft reveals recent geological activity on the Moon

Solar Storms Could 'Sandblast' the Moon   Cosmic rays alter chemistry of lunar ice

Researchers estimate ice content of crater at Moon's South Pole

Solar wind particles likely source of water locked inside lunar soils  

LRO spectrometer detects helium in Moon's atmoshere   

Mars:

.... and now, for the weather on Mars

MAVEN    NASA/JPL Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter website    

Collision course? - A comet heads for Mars    Remaining MARS atmosphere still dynamic

Martian History: finding a common denominator with Earth's    The changing face of Mars

Mars Rover providing new weather and radiation data about Mars   Mapping Mars

New views of the Martian ionosphere     Comparison of Mars and Earth

Liquid water flowing above and below frozen Alaskan sand dunes, hints of wetter Mars

Fossilized conduits suggest water flowed beneath Mars surface

Reull Vallis: a river ran through it      Image gallery from Mars    Various images from Mars Express

Tracing the Canals of Mars    The meandering channels of Mars    Mars was wet, but was it warm?

Extensive water in Mars interior    Plate tectonics discovered on Mars    'Dry Ice' snow fall on Mars

Out of Thin Martian Air    Did ancient Mars have a runaway greenhouse?  Methane debate splits Mars community

Organic carbon from Mars, but not biological    NASA shows existence of reduced carbon on Mars

ESA orbiter discovers water supersaturation in the Martian atmosphere   

An infographic of all the missions from Earth to Mars, and where they wound up

The serpent dust devils of Mars    12-mile high 'Dust Devil' caught in the act 

Mars rocks indicate relatively recent quakes, volcanism

Grad student discovers new form of lava flow on Mars     Changing Martian sand dunes

The dark side of Mars: study reveals weathered glass deposits

Influence of early plate tectonics on the thermal evolution of and magnetic field of Mars

Science of global climate modeling confirmed by discoveries on Mars

Jupiter and its moons:

Modeling Jupiter and Saturn's possible origins    

Herschel links water in Jupiter's stratosphere to 1994 comet impact  

Where are the best windows into Europa's interior

Turmoil from below, battering from above    65 amazing Galileo facts

Io   Io's magma ocean provides a view into Earth's past    Geologic map of Io   

Io's volcanoes are in the wrong place!

Europa    Europa Helps Astronomers Penetrate Jupiter’s Lost Belt 

Ganymede

Saturn and its moons:

Aurora saturnalis: halos at the poles of the ringed planet     A splendor seldom seen

Saturn's youthful experience explained   Telling the time on Saturn

Blame it on the rain from Saturn's rings   Cassini observes meteors colliiding with Saturn's rings

Cassini sees objects blazing trails in Saturn ring    Cassini shows why jet streams cross-cut Saturn

Churning Psychedelia   Giant impact scenario may explain the unusual moons of Saturn

Titan  The lakes and storms of Titan   River networks on Titan point to a puzzling geological history

Saturn and its largest moon reflect its true colors   Titan shows surprising seasonal changes

Piecing together a global colour map of Saturn’s largest moon     What's baking on Titan?

New Computer Model Explains Lakes and Storms on Titan     Titan's tides point to hidden ocean

Cassini shots of Satuurn's moons   About Saturn and its moons

Saturn's Moon Enceladus Spreads its Influence 

Uranus:

Uranus and Neptune ejected in wide binary star study

Series of bumps sent Uranus into its sideways spin

Neptune:

The curious aftermath of Neptune’s discovery

Does Triton have a subsurface ocean?

Kuiper Belt:

Wikipedia description   New Horizons Kuiper Belt Fly-through   Extending our horizons

The Kuiper Belt at 20 years: paradigm changes in our knowledge of the Solar System

Dwarf planet Makemake has no atmosphere   Is the Pluto System dangerous?

Pluto and its moons:

Visit to Pluto     At Pluto, moon and debris may be hazardous to New Horizons

Pluto and the developing landscape of our Solar System

Hubble discovers a fifth moon orbiting Pluto