A pellet of plutonium 238, illuminated by the glow of its own radioactivity. NASA and other space agencies use this material in radioisotope power sources for interplanetary missions to the solar ...

Only two spacecraft have ever truly escaped the solar system, slipping beyond the Sun’s protective bubble into interstellar space. Their measurements are now reshaping how I understand the heliosphere ...

The outer reaches of our Solar System continue to reveal a complex dynamical environment where the interplay of gravitational forces shapes the orbits of a myriad of distant bodies. Research in this ...

On Friday (Dec. 19), the interstellar invader, comet 3I/ATLAS, made its closest approach to Earth, coming to within 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) of our planet at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT).

The New Horizons spacecraft sends back its sensational snapshots of Jupiter, and its volcanic moon Io, before the mission's close encounter with Pluto (Photo by: Photo12/Universal Images Group via ...

The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is being launched later this month to study the outer reaches of the heliosphere which defines where our solar system ends and interstellar space ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London.View full profile Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The interstellar invader comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by Hubble. | Credit: Comet inset: NASA, ESA, ...