Pluto and Ceres: fresh views of dwarf planets

NASA’s New Horizons mission plumbs complex interplay between the dwarf planet's surface and its sky.

New Horizons mission spots a pair of mountains with deep pits at their centres.

First published findings from NASA’s New Horizons mission lay out the dwarf planet’s wildly varying terrain.

Intriguing ridges add to dwarf planet's geological mysteries.

Discrepancy arises between New Horizons and Earth-based measurements.

Fresh from its Pluto encounter, the spacecraft steers for a second Kuiper belt object.

Data from New Horizons mission also reveal a hazy atmosphere that is growing colder and thinner.

Mission seeking clues to early Solar System finds a world made anew.

New Horizons data portrays a geologically active world on the fringes of the Solar System.

Latest images from New Horizons mission show a patchwork terrain, and a surprisingly youthful Charon.

Astronomer Marc Buie has studied the dwarf planet for decades.

New Horizons probe reconnects with Earth after journey past dwarf planet.

Nature captures the anxiety, and jubilation, of this mission milestone.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft beams back best picture yet of the dwarf planet.

Images from the New Horizons probe's journey to the distant reaches of the Solar System.

Nature reports from New Horizons mission headquarters.

Nature Video’s guide to the highlights as the New Horizons spacecraft speeds past the icy dwarf planet.

New Horizons mission is set to speed past an ice world at the fringes of the Solar System.

NASA works to recover probe less than ten days before it reaches the dwarf planet.

New Horizons nears dwarf planet whose full orbit has never been mapped.

Gravity binds together three satellites of dwarf planet.

Unknown satellites pose danger to New Horizons mission as it journeys to the edge of the Solar System.

Latest images from New Horizons spacecraft show bright spot near dwarf planet’s pole.

Graphical guide to the NASA missions that will provide the first close looks at Ceres and Pluto.

Leslie and Eliot Young have spent their lives studying Pluto. Now they are gearing up for the biggest event of their careers.

Nature marks the 85th anniversary of the dwarf planet's discovery.

NASA scientists scramble to find an object in the outer Solar System’s Kuiper belt in time for a close-up visit.

NASA flyby makes for pretty pictures.

New Horizons mission underway, third time lucky.

Researchers to tick off last planet on the list.

Images from Dawn spacecraft reveal signs of complex geology that created the dome-shaped Ahuna Mons.

Ice also transforms to water vapour in the dwarf planet’s craters, creating an enigmatic haze.

Discovery bolsters idea that intriguing marks are made of ice, not salt.

NASA mission shows dwarf planet's surface in rich detail.

Data from NASA mission suggest varied origins for tantalizing gleams on dwarf planet's surface.

Early data from Dawn spacecraft bring scientists closer to clearing up mystery about dwarf planet.

Dawn mission spots mysterious bright spots on Solar System's largest asteroid, hinting at its watery history.

Graphical guide to the NASA missions that will provide the first close looks at Ceres and Pluto.

Ceres spews intermittent plumes of water vapour, but their origin is unclear.

NASA mission leaders hope Dawn will rise on time.

The newfound moon and its kin may be remnants of an ancient smashup.

Astronomers make plans for detailed observations during NASA mission fly-by.

Tense debate ends with a definition of 'planet'.

Astronomers spot largest object in Solar System for 70 years.

Data from spacecraft solidify asteroid's place in planetary evolution.

Astronomers keen to look into strange hole on second-largest asteroid.

Mission poised to explore the Solar System's largest asteroids in detail.