Outer Space

Do Marine Mammals Yawn and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

A 2018 colorized image of Jupiter's south pole created by citizen scientist Gabriel Fiset, using data from NASA's Juno spacecraft.

How Jupiter May Have Gifted Early Earth With Water

A new model of the solar system suggest we have gas giants to thank for our watery world

These two views from NASA’s Curiosity rover, acquired specifically to measure the amount of dust inside Gale Crater, show that dust has increased over three days from a major Martian dust storm. The images were taken by the rover’s Mastcam.

Massive, 'Unprecedented' Dust Storm Puts Mars Rover at Risk

Engineers have not received any transmissions from the Opportunity rover since Sunday

Say hello to SMAP

This NASA Satellite Can Map the Planet's Soil Moisture Content In Just Three Days

The speedy collection of this data will help with crop management and flood prediction

An illustration of lightning on Jupiter's northern hemisphere, using an image from the JunoCam.

Jupiter's Lightning Is More Earth-Like Than We Thought

Juno is providing scientists with new insights into the gas giant's flashes of light

The imagined surface of Kepler-186f, an Earth-size planet orbiting a small red star.

NASA's New Exoplanet Travel Bureau Lets You 'Tour' Far-Distant Planets In 360 Degrees

Eager space tourists can now visit sunny Kepler-186f, a moon of Kepler-16b or the Earth-like TRAPPIST-1e virtually

Illustration of Sedna, a minor planet with an unusual orbit.

Is the Mysterious Planet Nine Just a Swarm of Asteroids?

Researchers investigate alternative explanations for wacky orbits of objects in our solar system

Artist’s impression of satellites and debris in low-Earth orbit. Currently 70 percent of all cataloged objects are in low-Earth orbit, which extends to 2000 km above the Earth’s surface.

Greening the Future of Outer Space

A team of scientists and policy experts want to develop space sustainably for future generations

Pluto, and its largest moon Charon, as seen from the New Horizons spacecraft.

Is Pluto Actually a Mash-up of a Billion Comets?

Researchers speculate the beloved dwarf planet could actually be a giant comet

An illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit.

Meet NASA's New Dynamic Duo: A Pair of Climate Change-Tracking Satellites

The pair will measure changes in Earth's gravitational field to monitor melting glaciers, rising seas, droughts and more

The oxygen distribution from MACS1149-JD1 appears green in this ALMA image.

Astronomers Find Signature From the Universe's Earliest Known Stars

The first lights may have winked to life just 250 million years after the Big Bang

Images of 2015 BZ509 captured by the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory.

Is This Backwards-Orbiting Asteroid an Interstellar Visitor?

The space rock could have been captured from another star system during the early days of our solar system

We're All Made of Stardust. Here's How

13.8 billion years ago, the universe began with a big bang and the atoms it created would find their way into everything

This test image from one of the four cameras on TESS captures a portion of the southern sky along the plane of our galaxy.

200,000 Stars Twinkle in First Test Image From NASA’s Planet-Hunting Satellite

Once its cameras are calibrated, TESS will capture 400 times as much sky as this test image

Asteroid 2010 WC9 as it appeared on May 15, 2018, at a distance of 453,600 miles.

An Asteroid Will Hurtle Past Earth Tonight in Close Flyby

While the space rock poses no danger to our planet, such a close pass is uncommon for asteroids of this size

Europa

A New Look at Old Data Suggests Europa Shoots Watery Plumes Into Space

Scientists made the surprising discovery by turning the powers of modern computing on 1997 data collected during the Galileo mission

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the moon surface in July of 1969.

Lunar Dust Might Pose Severe Health Risks to Future Human Colonies on the Moon

Prolonged exposure to lunar dust can cause illnesses like bronchitis and cancer, according to a new study

Perhaps our sun will produce something as beautiful as the Cat's Eye Nebula.

The Sun Will Produce a Beautiful Planetary Nebula When It Dies

A new model of stellar death shows our low-mass star has enough juice to produce a beautiful ring of gas and dust before winking out

Illustration of NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight).

Five Things to Know About NASA's InSight Mission to Mars

This Saturday, the craft will launch on its mission to search for clues about the Red Planet's interior

Comet "Snowstorm" Swirling in This Stunning GIF Is a Tricky Illusion

“Things are not quite as they seem," explains astronomer Mark McCaughrean

Page 35 of 70