NASA
An instrument on the Europa Clipper mission might be able to detect biological cells from space.
Earth’s North Sea coastline, including the Stacks of Duncansby in Caithness.
David Rothery
The Solar System could be awash with oceans, not on the surface but hidden inside the most surprising bodies
Europa seen in true colour (left) and false colour (right).
NASA
Only about 12kg of oxygen is produced per second on Europa, which is on the lower side of previous estimates from about 5kg to 1,100 kg per second.
Nasa
Moons and asteroids will be visited by spacecraft from Earth next year.
Is there life beyond our world?
(Shutterstock)
Planetary analogues are sites on Earth that are so extreme that they replicate those of celestial bodies in our solar system.
Occator crater, Ceres.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
If we could go sightseeing across our cosmic neighbourhood, these would be some of the best highlights.
Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS.Media
We’re going to get up close and personal with three of Jupiter’s largest moons like never before.
Jupiter has more than 80 moons, the largest of which were discovered by Galileo. Many will be studied in depth by the scientific instruments of ESA’s JUICE mission.
ESA, NASA, JPL, ATG, DLR, University of Arizona, University of Leicester
One of Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, could contain more water than the Earth.
The surface of Europa – one of Jupiter’s moons – is a thick layer of solid ice.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer and Europa Clipper missions will arrive at Jupiter in the 2030s and provide researchers with unprecedented access to the icy moons orbiting the gas giant.
Io has volcanism.
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Jupiter’s moon Io has more than 400 active volcanoes on its surface.
Eight planets, including Earth, revolve around our Sun.
Illustration by Tobias Roetsch/Future Publishing via Getty Images
It all starts with a cloud of gas and dust.
Realistic colour view of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
There may be life on Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn moon’s Enceladus.
The red and stormy planet.
Shutterstock
The biggest storm on Jupiter is so big it could swallow all of Earth. But it’s now shrinking, and we’re not sure what that means.
SpaceX
There has never been a dedicated mission sent to the “ice giants”, Uranus and Neptune. But there may be one on the horizon.
Hubble: NASA, ESA, and Q.D. Wang (University of Massachusetts, Amherst); Spitzer: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and S. Stolovy (Spitzer Science Center/Caltech)
As we await the launch of the James Webb Space telescope, it’s timely to look back on what previous generations of telescopes have shown us.
An artist’s impression of the exoplanet WASP-76b, which is hot enough to vaporize metals.
(European Southern Observatory/M. Kornmesser)
On the ultra-hot exoplanet WASP-76b, metal is vaporized in the heat. Studying the atmosphere of extreme planets will reveal more wild and weird weather.
Enhanced artist impression based on JunoCam image of Jupiter acquired on July 21, 2021.
NASA / SwRI / MSSS / Tanya Oleksuik
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is deep, meaning it may persist even though it is shrinking.
DART will change the orbit of a moon around an asteroid.
Nasa
The Lucy mission could revolutionise our knowledge of the Solar System’s history, while the DART mission could help redirect hazardous asteroids in the future.
A volcanic eruption on Jupiter’s moon Io.
NASA/JPL/DLR
When two missions to Venus were announced, two others missed out.
On Dec. 21, Jupiter and Saturn will be so close together they will almost appear to be touching.
(Unsplash)
From the birth of Jesus Christ to Newton’s discovery of gravity, great conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn have many notable connections in human history.