Venus

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, jointly operated with the European Space Agency, passed within 4,967 miles of the planet's surface on August 9.

Conjunctions are a pretty sight for sky watchers, with the last one between the two planets taking place around two years ago.

Venus is Earth's closest neighbour, but the surface conditions on the second planet from the sun are hellish.

For the first time in over 30 years, NASA will be sending missions DAVINCI+ and VERITAS to Venus, an expedition expected to launch in the late 2020s.

This was a bumper year for breakthroughs in every scientific field, including astronomy and physics.

Researchers who have observed the planet using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii, believe there is evidence to suggest alien life may exist on Venus.

This is clear evidence that the interior of Venus is currently churning," said researcher Laurent Montési.

If you want to see the spectacle, you will need to head outside around an hour before sunrise on Sunday.

"These selected missions have the potential to transform our understanding of some of the solar system's most active and complex worlds," NASA's Thomas Zurbuchen said.

The next transit of Mercury will not be until 2032.

Researchers from The Europlanet Society presented a study on Venus' climate history at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 on Sunday.

The probe was supposed to visit Venus, but a failure during launch meant it has been marooned in space for almost 50 years.

Venus's surface is an inhospitable wasteland. But its upper atmosphere is much like Earth.

Full alignment will be easier to see from the Southern Hemisphere—but people at Northern latitudes should still be able to spot Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

This "exceptionally bright gem is always spectacular to see," an astronomer told Newsweek.

Binoculars or a telescope might be necessary to see some of the planets.

The moon will come within four-moon diameters of Saturn in the night sky.

You'll be able to catch the dazzling displays with the naked eye.

Wind crashes into mountains and creates waves that tug on the planet's rotation.

The best astronomy events of the summer and how to watch them.

Around dusk tonight, Castor and Pollux will form a nearly straight line with Venus.

"It's just completely bizarre that we should have two planets the same size but opposite ends of the habitability spectrum."

Are we really alone?

Psychological tests for the first Mars colony inhabitants start this year.

Here's what we know—and don't know—about our neighboring planet.

Our sister planet is far more dynamic than previously suspected.

As a movie on the original '73 match is set to debut, we look back at Trump's mostly forgotten attempt to redo the whole thing in 2000.

The moon won't obscure three planets again in this way until 2036.

Hidden volcanoes and greenhouse gases mean if you were standing on the Venusian surface it would be like swimming 1,000 metres below sea level—if the ocean was scorching hot.

The world's most visited museum had to move artwork last week as the Seine overflowed its banks because of rainfall.