Scientists are proposing China’s first ice giant mission, aiming to launch a radioisotope-powered spacecraft to orbit Neptune and study its enigmatic moon Triton.

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HELSINKI — China is charting a long-term deep space strategy centered on planetary habitability and the search for extraterrestrial life, according to a newly revealed mission roadmap. A slide titled […]

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Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune’s atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time […]

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NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft plans to observe Uranus and Neptune from its location far out in the outer solar system this fall, and the mission team is inviting the global […]

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows off its capabilities closer to home with its first image of Neptune. Not only has Webb captured the clearest view of this distant planet’s […]

The post New Webb Image Captures Clearest View of Neptune’s Rings in Decades appeared first on SpaceNews.

Astronomers may now understand why the similar planets Uranus and Neptune are different colors. Using observations from the Gemini North telescope, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, and the Hubble Space […]

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An international team of astronomers have used ground-based telescopes, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to track Neptune’s atmospheric temperatures over a 17-year period. They found […]

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A layer of “hot,” electrically conductive ice could be responsible for generating the magnetic fields of ice giant planets like Uranus and Neptune. New work from Carnegie and the University […]

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Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope watched a mysterious dark vortex on Neptune abruptly steer away from a likely death on the giant blue planet. The storm, which is wider […]

The post Dark Storm on Neptune Reverses Direction, Possibly Shedding a Fragment appeared first on SpaceNews.

More than 30 years have passed since the Voyager 2 fly-bys of Uranus and Neptune. I discuss a range of lessons learned from Voyager, broadly grouped into process, planning, and […]

The post Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune appeared first on SpaceNews.

Even by the wild standards of the outer solar system, the strange orbits that carry Neptune’s two innermost moons are unprecedented, according to newly published research. Orbital dynamics experts are […]

The post Two Of Neptune Moons Are Locked In A Dance of Avoidance appeared first on SpaceNews.

Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system’s eighth planet. Marking the […]

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Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope document the formation of a Great Dark Spot on Neptune for the first time, report researchers in a new study. Like Jupiter’s Great […]

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Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, along with older data from the Voyager 2 probe, have revealed more about the origin of Neptune’s smallest moon. The moon, which was […]

The post The Origin Of Neptune’s Smallest Moon Hippocamp appeared first on SpaceNews.

Like Earth, Uranus and Neptune have seasons, which likely drive some of the features in their atmospheres. But their seasons are much longer than on Earth, spanning decades rather than […]

The post Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune appeared first on SpaceNews.

Three billion miles away on the farthest known major planet in our solar system, an ominous, dark storm — once big enough to stretch across the Atlantic Ocean from Boston […]

The post Hubble Sees Neptune’s Mysterious Shrinking Storm appeared first on SpaceNews.

SLAC’s X-ray laser and Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument allow researchers to examine the exotic precipitation in real-time as it materializes in the laboratory Earlier experiments that attempted to recreate […]

The post Diamond Rain Forms In The Interior of Icy Giant Planets appeared first on SpaceNews.

Scientists have helped solve the mystery of what lies beneath the surface of Neptune – the most distant planet in our solar system. A new study sheds light on the […]

The post Probing Neptune’s Depths To Reveal Secrets Of Icy Planets appeared first on SpaceNews.

Storm’s surprise appearance in area where no such cloud has been seen before Spectacular sunsets and sunrises are enough to dazzle most of us, but to astronomers, dusk and dawn […]

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New images obtained on May 16, 2016, by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a dark vortex in the atmosphere of Neptune. Though similar features were seen during […]

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NASA began an early feasibility study for missions to the distant, mostly-ignored ice-giants Uranus and Neptune, a senior agency official said here Aug. 24.

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The interiors of several of our solar system’s planets and moons are icy, and ice has been found on distant extrasolar planets, as well. But these bodies aren’t filled with […]

The post Is Salt the Key to Unlocking the Interiors of Uranus and Neptune? appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, known for its planet-hunting prowess of other stars, is also studying solar system objects. In its new K2 mission, Neptune and two of its moons, Triton and […]

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Neptune’s tiny innermost moon, Naiad, has now been seen for the first time since it was discovered by Voyager’s cameras in 1989. Dr. Mark Showalter, a senior research scientist at […]

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