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Neptune

masses of many planets r

New study finds super-Earths are more common than previously thought

Far-flung “Super Earths” are not farfetched.

Exoplanet Atmosphere

A giant rocky planet could be shrouded in a thick, hot atmosphere

Research deciphers mysterious atmosphere of ‘Rosetta Stone’ exoplanet.

Neptune Auroras (Hubble and Webb Image)

Webb captures Neptune’s mysterious auroras for the first time

For the first time, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune. Auroras occur when energetic particles, often originating...

trans-Neptunian objects

Webb gives the best glimpse ever into the icy planetesimals of the early solar system

A clearer picture of how the outer solar system formed and evolved.

exploded view of an ice giant planet such as Uranus or Neptune

What lies beneath the bland surfaces of Uranus and Neptune?

Uranus and Neptune are unique but superficially bland ice giants in our solar system. Planetary scientists have devised two proposals for what lies beneath...

This artist’s impression shows the view from the planet in the TOI-178 system found orbiting furthest from the star. New research by Adrien Leleu and his colleagues with several telescopes, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope, has revealed that the resonant system boasts six exoplanets and that all but the one closest to the star are locked in a rare rhythm as they move in their orbits.

Researchers finally decipher density difference of sub-Neptunes

UNIBE and PlanetS have shown the existence of two distinct populations of sub-Neptunes.

This is an artist's impression of a Kuiper Belt object (KBO)

The Discovery of CO2 and CO Ices in the Outer Solar System

Researchers Discover Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide Ices on Trans-Neptunian Objects The Discovery of CO2 and CO Ices in the Outer Solar System

Uranus and Neptune

Stunning new images reveal the real looks of Neptune and Uranus

The two ice giants are actually far closer in colour.

Ice XIX

A new phase of high-density, ultra-hot water ice discovered

This phase could form at the right depths.

Dark spot on Neptune observed with MUSE at ESO’s Very Large Telescope

Astronomers observed a large dark spot in Neptune’s atmosphere

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune’s atmosphere, with an unexpectedly smaller bright spot adjacent to...

amount of cloud cover on Neptune

Neptune is losing its clouds

Neptune's disappearing clouds linked to the solar cycle.

NIRCam

NASA’S Webb captured the clearest view of Neptune’s rings in decades

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows off its capabilities closer to home with its first image of Neptune.

Artistic rendering of the moon Chrysalis

Saturn’s rings and tilt could be the product of an ancient, missing moon

A “grazing encounter” may have smashed the moon to bits to form Saturn’s rings, a new study suggests.

Diamond rain on giant icy planets

Diamond rain on ice giant planets could be more common than previously thought

Revealing a new path to make nanodiamonds here on Earth.

Hubble’s Observations of Uranus and Neptune in 2021

Researchers explain why Uranus and Neptune are different colors

Astronomers may now know why Uranus and Neptune are different colors. Using observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the Gemini...

Dwarf planet

Pluto’s orbit is rather surprisingly, highly chaotic

These results could have implications for future studies of the outer Solar System and its orbital dynamics.

Thermal images of Neptune taken between 2006 and 2020 (different layout)

Surprising changes in Neptune’s temperatures captured

An international team of astronomers have used ground-based telescopes, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), to track Neptune's atmospheric temperatures...

A diamond-anvil

Study offers detailed insights into the chemistry of deep water layers on Neptune and Uranus

The findings provide clues to the composition of oceans on water-rich exoplanets outside our solar system.

Earth's mantle might be electrified by superionic minerals

Proton rivers made of superionic phases may be flowing through Earth’s deep mantle

The deep regions may have rivers made of protons, which flow through the solids.

blue-green planet Neptune

A mysterious dark vortex is seen on Neptune

Dark Storm on Neptune reverses direction, possibly shedding a fragmens.

Primordial Solar System

Scientists identified 19 asteroids of interstellar origin

Understanding the star nursery from which the Sun emerged.

Artist’s impression showing a Neptune-sized planet in the Neptunian Desert. It is extremely rare to find an object of this size and density so close to its star.

Astronomers discovered the first exposed core of a planet

Astronomers from the University of Warwick have recently discovered the surviving core of a gas giant named TOI 849 b, orbiting a distant star....

In a new experiment, four optical laser beams (green) launched a shock wave in a plastic sample made up of carbon and hydrogen. As the shock wave moved through the material, researchers observed it by hitting the shocked regions with X-ray photons from LCLS (thin white beam) that scattered both backwards and forwards off electrons in the sample (thicker white beams)

How elements mix deep inside giant planets?

An international team that includes scientists from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has devised a new way to quantify how chemical...

Incredibly rare new Super-Earth planet discovered

Incredibly rare new Super-Earth planet discovered

Astronomers at the University of Canterbury (UC) have discovered new ‘one in a million’ Super-Earth planet towards the center of the galaxy. The planet...

Neptune Moon Dance: This animation illustrates how the odd orbits of Neptune's inner moons Naiad and Thalassa enable them to avoid each other as they race around the planet.

Two of the Neptune’s moons dancing around each other

Even by the wild standards of the outer solar system, the strange orbits that carry Neptune's two innermost moons are unprecedented.

Image of strom on Neptune from Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA/GSFC/JPL.

Hubble spotted a mysterious dark spot on Neptune

Since it’s a discovery in the mid-19th century, Neptune has consistently been a planet of mystery. As the farthest planet from our Sun, Neptune-...

This artist’s impression shows the outermost planet of the Solar System, Neptune, and its small moon Hippocamp. Hippocamp was discovered in images taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Whilst the images taken with Hubble allowed astronomers to discover the moon and also to measure its diameter, about 34 kilometres, these images do not allow us to see surface structures.

Hubble helps uncover origin of Neptune’s smallest moon Hippocamp

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, along with older data from the Voyager 2 probe, have revealed more about the origin of Neptune’s...

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