Astronomy

The James Webb Space Telescope's first image of Saturn.

Saturn's Rings Will Temporarily Disappear From View in 2025

From Earth’s perspective, we’ll be looking at the gas giant’s rings edge-on, making them nearly impossible to see

The galaxy cluster Abell 2744, which lies in front of the galaxy containing the newly discovered black hole

Astronomers Spot the Oldest Black Hole Ever Seen, Shedding Light on the Early Universe

Dating to just 470 million years after the Big Bang, the ancient cosmic structure could help researchers understand how the first black holes formed

Euclid's image of the Perseus Cluster, a group of galaxies 240 million light-years from Earth. The view includes about 1,000 galaxies in the cluster, with more than 100,000 additional ones in the background.

See the First Dazzling Images From the Euclid Space Telescope

The European Space Agency's observatory will map one-third of the sky over six years in a mission to understand the universe's dark matter and dark energy

The asteroid sample that is now on display at the National Museum of Natural History. By studying the retrieved space rocks, scientists aim to better understand how water and organic material first arrived on Earth.

How to See NASA's Bennu Asteroid Sample in Person

A tiny piece of the space rock made its public debut at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, as scientists study the rest of the sample

The pair of asteroids, captured by NASA's Lucy spacecraft on November 1, 2023, from around 270 miles away.

NASA Finds a Surprise Second Asteroid During a Flyby Mission

While testing its tracking system, the agency's Lucy spacecraft discovered that Dinkinesh is not one space rock, but two

The four telescopes of the Very Large Telescope in Chile. Researchers used them to search for the source of the fast radio burst.

Astronomers Find Powerful 'Fast Radio Burst' That Traveled for Eight Billion Years

The strong blast of radio waves is the oldest known, and it could tell scientists more about the mysterious matter that lies between galaxies

An image of Pluto taken by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015

A Supervolcano on Pluto May Have Spewed Ice Just a Few Million Years Ago

An unusual crater on the dwarf planet hints at past volcanic activity—and a possible vast ocean beneath its surface, scientists say

Previous analyses of seismic activity on Mars suggested its core was surprisingly large, with a low density. Two new studies suggest the opposite.

Mars' Core May Be Smaller Than Thought, Wrapped in a Sea of Molten Rock

Based on seismic waves from a meteorite impact, two teams of scientists suggest the Red Planet has another layer deep beneath its surface

A photograph of the moon by the Apollo 17 crew on their return trip back to Earth. The new study analyzes material gathered from the lunar surface during the 1972 mission.

The Moon Is 40 Million Years Older Than Thought, Lunar Rock Samples Suggest

A new analysis of crystals from the moon pushes its age back to just 110 million years after the solar system formed

The Orionid meteor shower over the Songhua River in Daqing City, China, in October 2020. 

Here’s How to Watch The Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend

The celestial show will peak on the night of October 21 to 22, with around 23 meteors expected per hour

In 1980, the Viking Orbiter took 102 individual images of Mars that scientists eventually assembled into this stunning composite photo. The dark gash across the planet’s face is the Valles Marineris, a canyon that’s up to 6 miles deep and over 2,500 miles long.

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Mars

Scientists have learned a lot since they started sending crafts and rovers to our red neighbor

The Pyramid Texts cover walls within the pyramids of King Unis (shown here) and other royals at the site of Saqqara.

Did Ancient Egyptians Know Meteorites Came From Space?

Hieroglyphic texts suggest they understood the rocks, which contained valuable iron, did not originate on Earth

An annular solar eclipse, captured by the solar optical telescope Hinode as the moon passed between it and the sun.

How to Watch the Annular 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse on Saturday

A partial eclipse will be visible from all of the continental U.S., but only those in Oregon and the Southwest will have a chance to see the glowing ring

Shooting stars travel across the sky during the Draconid meteor shower.

How to Watch the Draconid Meteor Shower This Weekend

Though it’s usually a smaller display, the Draconids have historically produced breathtaking outbursts of shooting stars known as "meteor storms"

The James Webb Space Telescope captured this long-wavelength color composite image of the Orion Nebula using its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument.

Mysterious Planet-Like Objects in the Orion Nebula Are Baffling Astronomers

The James Webb Space Telescope has observed dozens of Jupiter-mass, often paired objects, nicknamed JuMBOs, raising questions about how they formed

A supermoon appears above the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul on August 2, 2023. Thursday's supermoon will be the fourth and final of 2023.

See the Last Supermoon of 2023 Illuminate the Night Sky Thursday

This special type of full moon, which will be slightly larger and brighter than usual, will not occur again until fall 2024

A potential polar ring galaxy called NGC 4632. The composite image combines a capture of the galaxy's main disk, taken with the Subaru Telescope, with radio wave data of the hydrogen ring, which has been digitally colorized as white.

'Spectacular' Polar Ring Galaxies May Be More Common Than Thought, Study Suggests

Astronomers have found two candidates for this rare type of galaxy, surrounded by a halo of hydrogen gas—and they could provide insights about dark matter

An artist's rendition of exoplanet K2-18 b and the dwarf star it orbits. New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope support the idea that the world, discovered in 2015, has a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and water ocean.

This Exoplanet May Be a Distant Ocean World, James Webb Telescope Finds

The observatory detected evidence of methane and carbon dioxide—and tentatively observed a molecule that, on Earth, is only made by living things

Dimorphos, a moonlet orbiting the asteroid Didymos, as seen by NASA's DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact from 42 miles away.

The Asteroid Hit by NASA Seems to Be Moving Strangely, High School Students Find

After the DART spacecraft made contact with Dimorphos last year, the space rock's orbit is declining more than expected, according to preliminary research

Comet Nishimura, as imaged on September 7. On Tuesday, the comet will pass within 78 million miles of Earth, the closest it will get for more than 400 years.

Newly Discovered Green Comet Is Passing By Earth This Week

Comet Nishimura, which appears only once every 435 years, is on track to approach the sun and shoot into deep space

Page 4 of 47