Our solar system is made up of our star, the Sun, and everything gravitationally bound to it, including the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as dwarf planets like Pluto, dozens of moons, and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. But have you heard about Haumea? Our Solar System […]
Kepler laid the groundwork for this amazing science joke 400 years ago — and it finally paid off Wikimedia Commons Even in the space age, a little knowledge of the classics comes in handy sometimes. If you’re a fan of Greco-Roman mythology and NASA, you may have noticed that the space probe now orbiting Jupiter
When the NASA probe Pioneer 10 passed by Jupiter in 1973, it sent scientists back some puzzling readings taken from the planet’s upper atmosphere. Until then, most planetary researchers believed that Jupiter’s upper reaches would be pretty cold, considering how far the gas giant is from the sun’s warming rays. And Jupiter isn’t the only
