In the bigger picture, "down" could be defined as being below the plane of the solar system, which is known as the ecliptic.

Solar System's Run-In With 'Space Cloud' May Have Triggered a Series of Ice Ages 2 Million Years Ago, Says Scientists Around two million years ago, Earth underwent a series of temperature fluctuations ...

Earth’s orbit around the Sun defines everything we take for granted. Day and night, the seasons, and the steady presence of ...

At times, the sun ejects energetic material into space, which can have consequences for space-based and even ground-based ...

Short-lived radioisotopes such as aluminum-26 influenced early solar system heat, water retention and the formation of Earth-like rocky planets, according to meteorite analyses and models.

The discovery that helium and iron can mix at the temperatures and pressures found at the center of Earth could settle a long-standing debate over how our planet formed. When you purchase through ...

Grab-and-go missions to asteroids have provided some of the most scientifically valuable samples since the Apollo ...

The Solar System remains a unique natural laboratory for exploring the processes that govern planetary formation, evolution and dynamics. Contemporary research continues to refine our understanding of ...