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Interactive Planetarium Celestia serves as a planetarium – for an observer on any celestial object. You can easily navigate to any world and land on its surface. When used as a planetarium, Celestia shows accurate positions of solar system objects in the sky. You can switch labels and other supporting features on and off with hotkeys, or zoom in and out on an object of interest, for example Jupiter’s system of moons.
Interactive Planetarium Celestia serves as a planetarium – for an observer on any celestial object. You can easily navigate to any world and land on its surface. When used as a planetarium, Celestia shows accurate positions of solar system objects in the sky. You can switch labels and other supporting features on and off with hotkeys, or zoom in and out on an object of interest, for example Jupiter’s system of moons.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Artist's impression of the icy Kuiper belt object 2002 LM60, dubbed "Quaoar" by its discoverers. Credit: NASA and G. Bacon (STScI); Science Credit: NASA and M. Brown (Caltech) Astronomers have discovered what they think may be another moon orbiting a distant dwarf planet called Quaoar. This small, icy, egg-shaped pl
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown quasi-moon that’s been shadowing Earth’s orbit for decades, undetected, and will likely remain there for a few decades more. The quasi-moon, named 2025 PN7, is one of around seven quasi-satellites that share Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii spotted the quasi-moon on August 2, according to a paper published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society. The discovery prompted scientists to search through a
<<widget damageSystem>> \t/* Silently apply damage to a system */ \t/* args[0] should be the name of the system */ \t/* args[1] should be the amount of damage */ \t<<switch $args[0]>> \t\t<<case "atmosphere scanner">> \t\t\t<<set $scanner_atmosphere -= Math.min($args[1],$scanner_atmosphere)>> \t\t\t<<set $new_integrity = $scanner_atmosphere>> \t\t<<case "gravity scanner">> \t\t\t<<set $scanner_gravity -= Math.min($args[1],$scanner_gravity)>> \t\t\t<<set $new_integrity = $scanner_gravit
It is almost half a century since Voyager 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a mission to study Jupiter, Saturn, and the atmosphere of Titan. It continues to send data back to Earth. Although engineers reckon that the aging spacecraft might survive well into the 2030s before eventually passing out of range of the Deep Space Network, the spacecraft's cosmic ray subsystem was switched off in 2025. More of the probe's instruments are earmarked for termination as engineers eke out Voy
The Red Planet has a bloody history. Newly examined data from NASA's retired InSight lander suggest that there may be giant chunks of rocky material deep inside the mantle of Mars, which were lodged there after a barrage of massive objects slammed into its surface some 4.5 billion years ago. Some of these smithereens are so large, the researchers say, that they're effectively protoplanets — moon-sized objects in the early stages of becoming a planet proper. In other words: Mars could be stuffe
Blocky Planet is a tech demo I created in the Unity game engine that attempts to map Minecraft’s cubic voxels onto a spherical planet. The planet is procedurally generated and fully destructible, allowing players to place or remove more than 20 different block types. While much of the implementation relies on common techniques you’d expect from your average Kirkland brand Minecraft clone, the spherical structure introduces a number of unique design considerations. This post will focus on these
In the 1960s, meteorologist Edward Lorenz was running weather simulations on an early computer system when he realized that a small rounding difference led to extremely divergent weather predictions. He later called this idea the butterfly effect to communicate that small changes in initial conditions, like a butterfly flapping its wings in Nepal, could produce wildly different outcomes, like rain in New York. But better understanding those initial conditions and how the biological world couple
If you followed news about either the media industry or space exploration back in 2021, you probably remember when the New York Times accidentally published a story claiming that watermelons had been found on the planet Mars. "Authorities say rise of fruit aliens is to blame for glut of outer space watermelons," read the story, which the newspaper deleted less than an hour later, but is still accessible in an archived snapshot. "The FBI declined to comment on reports of watermelons raining down
New fear unlocked: spontaneous black hole implosion. Fresh research predicts that planets may be able to accumulate enough dark matter to suddenly form a black hole at their core. As the intruder grows, catastrophe unfolds: it would then devour the world from the inside out, becoming a black hole with the same mass as its unfortunate meal. The findings, published as a study in the journal Physical Review D, are terrifying to contemplate. The intent, however, wasn't to haunt our dreams but to d
Frontier, the carbon removal clearinghouse founded by Google, Strip, Shopify, and others, announced today that it is buying 115,208 metric tons of carbon removal credits from geoengineering startup Planetary in a deal worth $31.2 million. Where most Frontier deals to date have bought carbon from startups specializing in direct air capture, enhanced weathering, or bioenergy with carbon capture, the organization’s agreement with Planetary is its first to do so by enhancing ocean alkalinity. The
The core of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has long been a source of mystery for astronomers: an object so unfathomably dense and hot that it defies comprehension. Conventional theories have suggested for years that the gas giant's behemoth interior was formed following an enormous collision with an early planet. The "giant impact" theory suggests that roughly half of Jupiter's core originated from the remains of such a planet, explaining what researchers believe to be its st
The NASA spacecraft tasked with uncovering the secrets of Jupiter, king of the planets, is running out of time. The Juno probe has already survived far longer than anticipated—its path around the solar system’s largest planet has repeatedly flown it through a tempest of radiation that should have corroded away its instruments and electronics long ago. And yet here it is: one of the greatest planetary detectives ever built, still pirouetting around Jupiter, fully functional. But it may not be fo
The NASA spacecraft tasked with uncovering the secrets of Jupiter, king of the planets, is running out of time. The Juno probe has already survived far longer than anticipated—its path around the solar system’s largest planet has repeatedly flown it through a tempest of radiation that should have corroded away its instruments and electronics long ago. And yet here it is: one of the greatest planetary detectives ever built, still pirouetting around Jupiter, fully functional. But it may not be fo
Fresh off the excitement of the Perseids meteor shower is a chance to see six planets lined up in the sky at once. These events, colloquially known as planet parades, occur occasionally with the most recent one in February showing off all seven planets in our solar system at once. This one features six of our closest celestial neighbors. The main event started on Tuesday and you should still be able to see them through Thursday or so. There won't be a repeat performance until October of 2028. T
Fresh off the excitement of the Perseids meteor shower is a chance to see six planets lined up in the sky at once. These events, colloquially known as planet parades, only occur about once or twice a year, with the most recent one in February showing off all seven planets in our solar system at once. The next one will feature six of our closest celestial neighbors, and the event starts on Tuesday. The six planets sharing the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mars
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to bear fruit. Images captured by the floating watchtower revealed a previously unknown moon orbiting Uranus. The discovery, made on February 2, increases the planet's moon tally to 29. The moon was easy to miss: It's only an estimated six miles wide. It's located about 35,000 miles from Uranus' center, orbiting the planet's equatorial plane. The moon has a nearly circular orbit, suggesting it could have formed near its current location. NASA's s
The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar promotes skywatching for people of all ages. As its name implies, the sheet for each month takes the form of a calendar. Diagrams in the boxes invite the reader to track the moon's rapid motion past the planets and bright stars of the zodiac, as well as to follow the more leisurely pace of the planets in their gatherings with bright stars and other planets. The reverse side consists of a simplified star map of the month's evening sky. The sky maps are designed
Fresh off the excitement of the Perseids meteor shower is a chance to see six planets lined up in the sky at once. These events, colloquially known as planet parades, only occur about once or twice a year, with the most recent one in February showing off all seven planets in our solar system at once. The next one will feature six of our closest celestial neighbors, and the event starts on Aug. 20. The six planets sharing the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mars
In May 2025, during the same week Neon announced their acquisition, our databases went down four times. For hours. Database spin-ups, their entire value proposition, were completely disabled. Our "serverless" databases couldn't even start. That was the final straw in our decision to migrate to PlanetScale. Who We Are and Why Databases Matter More At OpenSecret, we're building something unique: a confidential computing platform powered by AWS Nitro Enclaves. Our flagship application, Maple AI,
So much for heliocentrism. An international team of astronomers using observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope have found evidence of massive planets out there that're capable of forming their own planetary systems — without a star. These planets would be the center of something like a mini version of our solar system where other, smaller planets revolve around it. But without the light of a star, these systems, if they exist, would go largely overlooked by our telescopes, lost to
Fresh off the excitement of the Perseids meteor shower is a chance to see six planets lined up in the sky at once. These events, colloquially known as planet parades, only occur about once or twice a year, with the most recent one in February showing off all seven planets in our solar system at once. The next one will feature six of our closest celestial neighbors, and the event starts on Aug. 20. The six planets sharing the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mars
Exoplanet hunters have had an eye on Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth at just four light-years away, for decades. We know that it consists of two Sun-like stars, Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, as well as a faint red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri. But while researchers have previously discovered three exoplanets orbiting Proxima Centauri, the search for more worlds orbiting the system’s other two stars has proven difficult. Until now: New evidence from the James Webb Space
On August 10, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will line up in an arc in the night sky. Four of these planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn—can be seen with the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will be visible through a very strong pair of skywatching binoculars or a backyard telescope. While August 10 marks the beginning of this planetary parade, these six planets will be visible until the final days of August, when Mercury sinks lower on the horizon an
Fresh off the excitement of the Perseids meteor shower is a chance to see six planets lined up in the sky at once. These events, colloquially known as planet parades, only occur about once or twice a year, with the most recent one in February showing off all seven planets in our solar system at once. The next one will feature six of our closest celestial neighbors, and the event starts on Aug. 20. The six planets sharing the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mars
Fresh off the excitement of the Perseids meteor shower is a chance to see six planets lined up in the sky at once. These events, colloquially known as planet parades, only occur about once or twice a year, with the most recent one in February showing off all seven planets in our solar system at once. The next one will feature six of our closest celestial neighbors, and the event starts on Aug. 20. The six planets sharing the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mars
Google’s newest AI model is going to scour the Earth and, ideally, help it out. That's the plan, anyway. The mission is to find out once and for all, in fine detail, what we are doing to our planet. Crucially, once the model has supposedly done this it will also, apparently, explain where we might be able to best put things in place to help our world. AlphaEarth Foundations, an offshoot of Google’s DeepMind AI model, aims to leverage machine learning and all the gobs and gobs of data that Googl
Google’s newest AI model is going to scour the Earth and, ideally, help it out. That's the plan, anyway. The mission is to find out once and for all, in fine detail, what we are doing to our planet. Crucially, once the model has supposedly done this it will also, apparently, explain where we might be able to best put things in place to help our world. AlphaEarth Foundations, an offshoot of Google’s DeepMind AI model, aims to leverage machine learning and all the gobs and gobs of data that Googl
A team of astronomers from the University of Montreal has discovered a new potentially habitable exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star L 98-59, 35 light-years from Earth. This discovery means there are now five confirmed planets in this solar system’s “temperate” or “habitable” zone, the region in a solar system where liquid water could exist on planets’ surfaces. The newly discovered planet, called “L 98-59 f,” managed to evade previous observations because it doesn’t pass between Earth and it