Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Astronomers

This 1846 map of the solar system includes Vulcan as the planet closest to the sun.

Why Everyone Went on a Wild Goose Chase Looking for the Planet Vulcan

The idea of a ninth planet in the Solar System would resolve a mathematical conundrum about Mercury–only problem is, it wasn’t there

Cool Finds

2.8 Million Stars Sparkle in This Incredible Image of the Milky Way

The Gaia star surveyor captured a densely packed area near the center of the galaxy

To the naked eye, the Albireo star system looks like a single, brilliant star. In reality, this binary system consists of two stars, similar to the ones witnessed by Korean astronomers nearly 600 years ago.

New Research

The Secret Lives of Cannibal Stars Revealed, Thanks to 15th Century Korean Astronomers

For the first time ever, astrophysicists observe the entire life cycle of a binary star system

Backyard Worlds is using the power of citizen scientists to search for the elusive Planet 9.

The Universe Needs You: To Help in the Hunt for Planet 9

How one citizen science endeavor is using the Internet to democratize the search for distant worlds

NASA's Earth-orbiting satellite Hinode observes the 2011 annual solar eclipse from space.

Eclipse 2017: In Pursuit of Totality

You’ve made plans, packed bags, obtained glasses. Here’s what to read to fully appreciate this event in all its glory

This Pueblo rock carving in New Mexico might represent a remarkable solar eclipse dating back to 1097.

This New Mexico Petroglyph Might Reveal an Ancient Solar Eclipse

In 1097, a Pueblo artist may have etched a rare celestial event into the rock for all of posterity

New cloud complex discovered on Neptune

Cool Finds

New Storm as Big as Earth Is Stirring Up Neptune’s Atmosphere

Astronomers aren’t sure if the 5,600-mile-wide storm will peter out or if a deep vortex will keep it churning

None

A Brief History of Eclipse Chasers

They also go by umbraphiles, coronaphiles, eclipsoholics and ecliptomaniacs

Illustration made using an 1851 portrait of Mitchell by H. Dassell and a false-color image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A by NASA.

Women Who Shaped History

When Girls Studied Planets and the Skies Had No Limits

Maria Mitchell, America’s first female astronomer, flourished at a time when both sexes “swept the sky”

Art Meets Science

Is Jupiter the “Star” in Lord Byron’s Famous Poem?

According to astronomer Donald Olson, the brilliant star described in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is actually a planet

Behold, ALMA's image of Betelgeuse

New Research

Detailed Images of a Distant Star Hold Clues to Its Ultimate Fate

Sitting some 640 light years from our planet, the star Betelgeuse is on the verge of supernova

Researchers now think that most stars—like this pair in the Perseus constellation—form in pairs.

New Research

Our Sun Probably Grew Up With a Sibling

But now its buddy is long gone

Artist's impression of a comet swarm around Tabby's Star

Trending Today

The “Alien Megastructure” Star Is Acting Up Again

A large dip in the star’s brightness suggests something massive is orbiting the fiery body

The Parkes radio telescope in Australia, which discovered the first FRB and the most recent burst

New Research

Latest Fast Radio Burst From Space Adds to Their Mystery

Researchers trained 11 telescopes on a recent burst’s aftermath, but could find no traces of what caused the high energy signal

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures three of Saturn's moons—Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas—in this group photo.

Space Hub

How and When Did Saturn Get Those Magnificent Rings?

The planet’s rings are coy when it comes to revealing their age, but astronomers are getting closer

Everything's better at night.

Cool Finds

Time-Lapse Video Captures the Breathtaking Glow of Hawaii’s Night Sky

Skyglow allows you to revel in an increasingly rare sight: a starry night

NASA technicians and engineers place a tent over the folded-up James Webb Space Telescope to protect it from dust and dirt once it leaves the "clean room" and proceeds to acoustic and vibrational testing.

Watch Scientists Freeze and Shake the James Webb Space Telescope

The largest space telescope ever built has a few last tests to pass

Artist's rendering of what DeeDee may look like

New Research

Meet DeeDee, the Solar System’s Newest Dwarf Planet (Maybe)

Though the tiny icy orb meets all the criteria, it has yet to receive the official designation

The view from GJ 1132b

New Research

Atmosphere Detected Around an Earth(ish)-Sized Planet

Just 39 light years away, GJ 1132b is 1.4 times the Earth’s radius and has an atmosphere that may be composed of steam or methane

Shortly after the announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 system, NASA crowdsourced its Twitter followers for possible planet names. The actual process of naming new planets, however, is a bit more involved.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Do New Planets Get Their Names?

Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines

Page 16 of 22