Lava on Io is among the hottest things in the Solar System. Volcanoes like the one pictured above in Io’s Tvashtar Catena region spew lava onto the moon’s surface that reaches searing temperatures. This earns Io a spot among the hottest places in the Solar System. Meet the other toasty worlds and their frigid counterparts in our guide to some of the most extreme temperatures out there.
Magma or lava? What’s the difference? When magma from the mantle breaks through the crust of a planet and reaches the surface, it becomes lava. But what is a mantle, and what is a crust? Get the full breakdown of what planets are made of, from terrestrial worlds like Earth to ice and gas giants and even planets beyond our own Solar System.
NASA’s solar sailing spacecraft has launched. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) spacecraft launched into Earth orbit on April 23, beginning a mission to test a solar sail spacecraft with booms made of composite materials. This mission builds on the legacy of The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission, which demonstrated that small spacecraft like this can use solar sails for controlled propulsion.
The Day of Action is coming up, and you can take part from home. While Planetary Society members meet in Washington, D.C., on April 29 to speak with their representatives in Congress about the value of investing in space science and exploration, you can echo those same messages from home. Fill out our pledge form to take at-home actions, and we will email you with instructions and special opportunities to email and make phone calls to your members of Congress.