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A diagram of Earth's magnetic field in colour

Earth

Cranky young sun could have kickstarted life on Earth

Giant solar storms may have turned early Earth's atmosphere into a cosy blanket and also helped life get going

An artist's impression of an asteroid in space

Space

Incoming asteroids could crumble harmlessly before they hit us

Juno probe

Life

Pinball planets: How life could start in a violent solar system

Space

Identity-crisis comet may really be closest asteroid to the sun

Space

Unnamed dwarf planet may be third largest in the solar system

Physics

Kepler doubles exoplanet population with 1284 new planets

Earth

Super-salty Turkish lakes may hold key to spotting life on Mars

Graph showing the gravitational wave signal from LIGO

Physics

Gravitational waves: Your cheat sheet on the find of the decade

Colourful topographic map of Mercury

Space

First global Mercury map shows its hills and valleys in detail

Mercury crossing the sun

Space

How to watch Mercury pass in front of the sun today

You'll need special telescopes to watch the innermost planet transit the sun, an event lasting around seven hours, or you can watch online

Earth

Last days of Earth: Life in 7 billion years AD

Strange Manx comet is time capsule from the early solar system

Space

Never-before-seen moon spotted around dwarf planet Makemake

Space

Cassini gears up for final fiery plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere