Late last July, a University astrophysicist helped discover the smallest planet ever detected outside the solar system — without even seeing it. Using a planet-finding technique called "gravitational ...

More than 50 times further from the Sun than Earth, the tiny dwarf planet Makemake is one of the last places you'd expect to find an intact gaseous atmosphere. Not only is it incredibly cold, being ...

Think you can spot Pluto? On July 25, the famously elusive dwarf planet reaches opposition—its best and brightest moment of the year. That makes now the ideal time to try to catch a glimpse of it from ...

For centuries, humans have gazed at the stars, trying to understand what lies beyond the familiar planets we know. From Mercury’s blazing orbit near the Sun to Neptune’s icy edge, our Solar System has ...

Pluto’s thin, blue haze glows in this image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. Though the dwarf planet is just a faint speck through a telescope, opposition this month offers skywatchers their best ...

Pluto reaches opposition at 3 A.M. EDT. Opposition is when objects typically appear at their best, and with no Moon in the sky, observers with large scopes and little light pollution may be able to ...

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected gas on the distant dwarf planet, Makemake. Credit: NASA / ESA / Southwest Research Institute / A. Parker illustration Scientists have ...

"This mission should be able to image the whole of Pluto. It should be phenomenal." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. When NASA's ...