This is a very important question because Venus’s atmosphere is full of carbon dioxide, which caused global warming. Could the same thing happen to Earth if we keep putting so much carbon dioxide into OUR atmosphere?

Create your own planet with Planet 10!
221 did, and look what happened… Click on the picture to play the game!

Update: 222 won on the very first try! How did they do it???

Once you’ve made your planet, give it a name and launch it into our solar system. Watch the left side of the screen to see what your planet’s fate is!

If you take a screenshot of your planet, we’ll post it here!

Good luck!

This video starts with Pluto, a dwarf planet, and then moves up in size order. Can you see why everything in the solar system orbits the Sun and not Earth or another planet?

Also, look at the size of the Sun compared to other stars. What would happen if our planet orbited a bigger star? We are going to be talking more about stars and why bigger is NOT better!

The Kepler spacecraft was launched into space last night. Its job is to take pictures of planets that orbit around other stars.

Here’s an animation:

And here’s the video of Kepler’s launch.

Did you see the Moon and two very bright objects in the night sky over the past few days? The two dots look like stars, but they are actually planets. Venus and Jupiter are both very close to Earth right now and so you can see them in the night sky along with the Moon.

Water found on Mars! July 31st, 2008

What we’ve all been waiting for! Scientists have known for years that there might be water on Mars in the form of ice, but this is the first time that we have tested actual soil and found water in it. The discovery was announced yesterday, along with news that Phoenix will add five more weeks to its mission and end in September, not August.

Current thinking is that if there is no water on a planet, there cannot be life. On our planet, wherever there is water, there IS life. No one is expecting to find little green men here – we are talking about tiny bacteria or single celled life forms, not Martians with flying saucers. We’re also more likely to find evidence of PAST life than current living things.

But, we have a reason to look! Congrats to JPL and NASA for this discovery.

Exciting news from Phoenix, the robot sent to the North Pole of Mars to dig for ice and liquid water. Ice has been found! At first scientists were not sure whether the photos showed ice or salt. But when the mystery item disappeared into the air, they knew it had to be water. Water can’t stay liquid on Mars because there is too little air pressure. It just boils away.

So now we know for sure that there is ice on Mars… what else is under the surface waiting for us to dig up?