Explore Planets
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Do you know what a planet is? Guess what... astronomers are not quite sure what a planet is! ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_mercury.jpg)
Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, is the second smallest planet in the solar system. Only ...
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Fair but inhospitable Venus, a "Sister" planet to the Earth that is very different from our ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_earth.jpg)
Earth, our home planet, is a beautiful blue and white ball when seen from space. ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_mars.jpg)
Mars, Earth's outer neighbor, is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars' bright appearance and ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_jupiter.jpg)
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. When approached from afar, its fantastic ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_saturn.jpg)
Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, has the most spectacular set of rings in the solar system. ...
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Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, has its spin axis almost in the plane of its orbit ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_neptune.jpg)
Neptune, the eighth and furthest planet from the Sun, is a very cold place. Its bluish color ...
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![](/images/icons/systemplanet_pluto.jpg)
In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a new classification scheme for ...
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Did you know?
Did you know that there is a
strange hexagon in the atmosphere at the northern pole of Saturn?
Did you know that Pluto is not always outside the orbit of Neptune?
Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day
Do you know what this word or phrase means?
Subduction zonexSubduction zone : Subduction is the process of the oceanic lithosphere colliding with and descending beneath the continental lithosphere.
Click on the word to find out!
Research Highlights
Scientists who study plants in the Sonoran Desert are worried about global warming. Desert winters have become warmer and drier over the years, and climate changes have pushed the arrival of winter rains...
Read more![](/olpa/images/desert_plants_small.jpg)