Solar System Discoveries

Who discovered the planets? For many of the planets in the solar system, we'll never know! Some planets are so bright in the sky that the first observers of these planets are lost in the distant past of early civilizations. Venus was carefully observed in early Mesoamerican cultures. The most distant planets were discovered in the last century, and we're now still discovering Dwarf planets, in our solar system and beyond. Visit the links here to find out more about what we know about the discovery of planets."
Have you ever seen the <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora.html&edu=high&dev=">Southern or Northern Lights</a>? Earth isn't the only planet that puts on these beautiful light shows, which are also called the "<a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora.html&edu=high&dev=">aurora</a>". Aurora have been seen at both <a href="/saturn/saturn_polar_regions.html&edu=high&dev=">poles of Saturn</a>, too, as well as at the poles of <a href="/jupiter/magnetosphere/jupiter_aurora.html&edu=high&dev=">Jupiter</a>. These "<a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/tour/tour_earth_magnetosphere_09.html&edu=high&dev=">curtains of light</a>" sometimes rise 1,200 miles (2,000 km) above the <a href="/saturn/atmosphere/S_clouds_overview.html&edu=high&dev=">cloud tops</a> near Saturn's poles. The <a href="/space_missions/HST.html&edu=high&dev=">Hubble Space Telescope</a> took this picture in 2004.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, J. Clarke (Boston University), and Z. Levay (STScI)</em></small></p>Neptune's <a href="/neptune/lower_atmosphere.html&edu=high&dev=">atmosphere</a> shows a striped pattern of <a href="/neptune/atmosphere/N_clouds_overview.html&edu=high&dev=">clouds</a>. This cloud pattern is very similar to that of <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&edu=high&dev=">Jupiter</a> and <a href="/saturn/saturn.html&edu=high&dev=">Saturn</a>. Neptune even has a <a href="/neptune/atmosphere/N_clouds_GDS.html&edu=high&dev=">Great Dark Spot</a> similar to Jupiter's <a href="/jupiter/atmosphere/J_clouds_GRS.html&edu=high&dev=">Great Red Spot</a>. The Great Dark Spot of Neptune is thought to be a hole, similar to the hole in the <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/ozone_layer.html&edu=high&dev=">ozone layer on Earth</a>, in the <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/methane.html&edu=high&dev=">methane</a> cloud deck of Neptune.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p><a href="/mercury/mercury.html&edu=high&dev=">Mercury</a>, the innermost planet of the solar system, is a little bigger than the Earth's Moon. The <a href="/mercury/Interior_Surface/Surface/surface_overview.html&edu=high&dev=">surface</a> of the planet is covered with craters, like the Moon, but temperatures there can reach over 800&deg;F because Mercury is so close to the Sun and rotates so slowly. This picture was taken by the <a href="/space_missions/robotic/messenger/messenger.html&edu=high&dev=">MESSENGER spacecraft</a> in October 2008.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.</em></small></p>The uniquely red <a href="/mars/interior/Martian_global_geology.html&edu=high&dev=">global surface</a> of Mars is marked by many interesting features - some like those on the <a href="/earth/earth.html&edu=high&dev=">Earth</a> and others strangely different. The reddish color is caused by rust (iron oxide) in the <a href="/mars/exploring/martian_soils.html&edu=high&dev=">soil</a>. Some of these features are; <a href="/mars/interior/mars_volcanoes.html&edu=high&dev=">volcanoes</a>, canyon systems, <a href="/mars/interior/Martian_running_water.html&edu=high&dev=">river beds</a>, <a href="/mars/interior/Mars_cratered_terrain.html&edu=high&dev=">cratered terrain</a>, and <a href="/mars/interior/Martian_dunefields.html&edu=high&dev=">dune fields</a>. This image shows a global mosaic of 102 Viking 1 Orbiter images of Mars taken in February, 1980.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA.</em></small></p>

Explore Solar System Discoveries

Discovery of Mercury

Mercury's orbit is so close to the Sun that it is difficult to see by ground-based observers. ...Read more

Discovery of Venus

Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky, so it is clearly visible to the naked eye. ...Read more

Discovery of Mars

Mars is much like Venus-- it's very bright and therefore easily spotted in the night sky. ...Read more

Discovery of Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It is also one of the brighter objects ...Read more

Discovery of Saturn

Like the inner planets and Jupiter, Saturn is clearly visible in the night sky. The ancient ...Read more

Discovery of Uranus

Astronomer William Herschel is credited with the discovery of Uranus in 1781. He was using ...Read more

Discovery of Neptune

If you had a quiz question in school that asked what year Neptune was discovered, you'd probably ...Read more

Discovery of Pluto

After the discovery of Neptune in 1846, mathematical theory suggested that there still might ...Read more

Discovery of Ceres

Ceres is the largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt. It was classified as a "dwarf ...Read more

Discovery of Haumea

Haumea is a dwarf planet in our Solar System. Haumea is the fifth object officially classified ...Read more

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Research Highlights

New Computer Model Advances Climate Change Research

Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. The Community Earth System...Read more


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