Astronomers

An image of the April 2012 Lyrid meteor shower raining down on Earth, taken from the International Space Station.

How To Watch April’s Lyrid Meteor Shower From Home

Though not as plentiful as the Perseids in summer, the Lyrids can serve up some serious fireballs

Artist's conception of SN2016aps, a supernova that was brighter and released more energy than any other ever observed by astronomers.

Astronomers Spy Brightest Supernova Ever Seen

A star 100-times more massive than the sun exploded with 10-times more energy than a normal-sized supernova

An artist's impression of 'Oumuamua, first spotted in 2017.

Scientists Suggest New Origin Story for 'Oumuamua, Our Solar System’s First Interstellar Visitor

Perhaps the cigar-shaped object is a shard from a shredded planetary body, a computer simulation suggests

Hayabusa2 deployed a camera to film the plume of regolith thrown up by the impact.

Japan's Experiment to Calculate an Asteroid's Age Was a Smashing Success

The spacecraft Hayabusa2 hurled a four-pound copper ball toward the asteroid's surface at about 4,500 miles an hour to create an artificial crater

An artist's concept of the solar system

Where Will NASA Explore Next? Here Are the Four Shortlisted Missions

Targets include Venus, Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton

The asteroid Pallas, imaged by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope

The Most Cratered Object in the Asteroid Belt Looks Like a Golf Ball

Pallas's odd orbit sends it crashing through the asteroid belt, colliding with other objects along the way

Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist, collecting samples of lunar soil in 1972. Along with Eugene Cernan, Schmitt collected about 245 pounds of material for return to Earth.

In a Single Grain of Moon Dust, 'Millions of Years' of Lunar History

Researchers can now analyze precious samples of lunar rock atom by atom

The left lobe of Pluto's distinctive heart is called Sputnik Planitia, covered with craterless plains of frozen nitrogen that vaporize each day.

Pluto Has a Nitrogen Heartbeat

Nitrogen on the dwarf planet’s glacial 'heart' becomes vapor each day and freezes each night

The telescope will decommission on January 30 after uncovering the some of the deepest corners of the universe.

Spitzer Space Telescope Ends Operations After Scanning the Cosmos for 16 Years

Looking back on the groundbreaking discoveries of NASA's little telescope that could

Félicette, a former stray who was sent into space by French researchers in 1963, now has a bronze statue in her honor at France's International Space University.

Félicette, the First Cat in Space, Finally Gets a Memorial

Last month, a team unveiled a bronze statue honoring the feline, who launched on a suborbital mission in 1963

An image of asteroid 2020 AV2, taken on January 8, 2020 by the Elena robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope Project

Astronomers Spot First Asteroid Nearer to the Sun Than Venus

Such “intervenusian” rocks are both rare and difficult to detect

2020 is shaping up to be a great year for sky watching.

Ten Celestial Events You Don't Want to Miss in 2020

Whether you are a telescope enthusiast or just want to step outside to enjoy the night sky, these are the phenomena to look out for this year

Dust-rich outflows of evolved stars similar to the pictured Egg Nebula are plausible sources of the large presolar silicon carbide grains found in meteorites like Murchison.

Meteorite Grains Are the Oldest Known Solid Material on Earth

The oldest dust sample, perhaps 7 billion years old, predates the formation of our planet and the sun

Vera C. Rubin, who advanced our understanding of dark matter, operating the 2.1-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

For the First Time, a National U.S. Observatory Has Been Named for a Female Astronomer: Vera Rubin

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will image the entire visible night sky every few nights

Maat Mons, Venus' highest volcano, one of several that may still be active in present day

Active Volcanoes May Still Exist on Venus

Scientists baked volcanic minerals in a box furnace to model how quickly lava ages on the planet’s harsh surface

The Quadrantids meteor shower, though fleeting, is famous for its especially bright, colorful "fireballs"

How to Catch the Quadrantids, the First Major Meteor Shower of the 2020s

This cosmic light show will peak in the predawn hours of January 4

The star Betelgeuse, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array.

A Giant Star Is Dimming, Which Could Be a Sign It Is About to Explode

Most astronomers, however, say it's unlikely that the star Betelgeuse will go supernova anytime soon

NASA's Sun-Orbiting Probe Reveals New Secrets of Our Host Star

The first findings from the Parker Solar Probe change what we know about the workings of our nearest star

Jupiter and its Great Red Spot as seen by the Hubble Telescope on June 27, 2019.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot May Not Be Dying Out Just Yet

Earlier this year, the spot appeared to be losing big chunks, but new research suggests it was gobbling up a smaller storm

The central region of our Milky Way is a bustling galactic downtown with a supermassive black hole at its hub.

Chandra Telescope Observes Two Decades of Turning Theory Into Reality

A new book, 'Light From the Void,' showcases the telescope’s images of nebulas, supernovae, supermassive black holes and more

Page 6 of 17