The Solar System

The four Jovian planets are officially designated as gas (and/or ice) giants. Which planets are they and what makes them so unique?

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Terrestrial planets include the four closest to our sun, including Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. What else makes these celestial bodies terrestrial planets?

By Mitch Ryan

Move over Saturn. There are other planets in the solar system surrounded by ring systems.

By Mitch Ryan

And this month's buck moon is extra-special because it is a supermoon!

By Valerie Stimac

Scientists have observed flashes of X-rays coming from behind a supermassive black hole, consistent with Albert Einstein's prediction that extremely large objects can bend light.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The gegenschein, "faint light" in German, occurs under very specific astronomical conditions when the sun reaches the exact opposite of Earth from wherever you're stargazing.

By Valerie Stimac

You know Saturn and Venus and Mars. Can you put the eight planets of the solar system in the correct order? There are several ways to do this.

By Valerie Stimac

In recent years, Saturn has overtaken Jupiter as the planet with the most moons in our solar system. How many does it have and could it have even more?

By Valerie Stimac & Desiree Bowie

The moon has seen a lot in its 4.5 million years of life, and this detailed geologic map serves as testament.

By Jesslyn Shields & Yara Simón

In 1953, CalTech geochemist Clair Patterson came up with an estimate for Earth's age that still holds today.

By Patrick J. Kiger

You might call it a Christmas miracle. Jupiter and Saturn will align so closely they may look like a double planet. The last time we saw this was in 1226.

By Valerie Stimac & Desiree Bowie

The Quadrantids are a short but powerful meteor shower that shows up in early January. How can you glimpse it?

By Valerie Stimac

A magnetar is a neutron star with a super-strong magnetic field. Astronomers consider them among the scariest objects in the universe, but why?

By Valerie Stimac

Surely you've watched tons of sunsets in your lifetime. But have you ever seen the sunset and the moonrise simultaneously? Is that even possible?

By Sharise Cunningham

Blood moons always bring out the stargazers though they aren't that rare. So what makes blood moons red? And do they differ from lunar eclipses?

By Valerie Stimac

When December's moongazing rolls around, you'll want to take a look at the cold moon, an appropriate moniker if there ever was one.

By Valerie Stimac

This doughnut-shaped ring around the sun is home to millions of comets, moons, dwarf planets and other celestial objects. What are these objects doing in the Kuiper belt?

By Valerie Stimac

Head's up, stargazers! Mark your calendars for the 22 must-see events this year.

By Martha Sandoval

News headlines talk about a rare green comet appearing in the sky. The comet itself is rare, but green comets, not so much. What makes some comets appear green?

By Valerie Stimac

February is a cold time of year, and the snow moon nickname pays homage to that. What are some other names for February's full moon and what do they mean? Plus, when can you see the snow moon?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

April's pink moon isn't called pink because our beloved bright white moon suddenly takes on a rosy hue. So, why is it called the "pink moon"?

By Valerie Stimac

Native American tribes have called the May moon the flower moon for centuries. The name even inspired a best-selling novel and film.

By Valerie Stimac

The full moon in June is known as the strawberry moon. It's a sweet name, but how did the strawberry moon get its moniker, and what else is it called?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

There are eight phases in the lunar cycle and the moon is in one of them every night. What are these phases of the moon?

By Valerie Stimac

The solar system's largest planet will pass closest to Earth at the same time it's at opposition. That means it will be the biggest and brightest it's been in the sky in decades.

By Patty Rasmussen