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Moon

A picture taken on January 21, 2019 in Duisburg, Germany, shows a view of the Super Blood Moon above an industrial plant during a lunar eclipse.

Ten Stunning Photos of the Super Blood Wolf Moon Lunar Eclipse

A lunar eclipse was visible across much of the world last night, bathing the moon in a reddish glow

Yutu-2 sets off on its inaugural journey.

The Cotton Plant That Sprouted on the Far Side of the Moon Has Died

China, which is manning the first probe to land on the lunar far side, was hoping to find out how plants fare in outer space

Shucked oyster shells lay beneath the moonlight at Fanny Bay Oyster Company on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

New Research

Oysters Open and Close Their Shells as the Moon Wanes and Waxes

A new study suggests the mollusks may widen and narrow their shells depending on movement of plankton, which shifts with the lunar cycle

Ring in the New Year With Dazzling Total Lunar Eclipse of a Supermoon

The celestial show will be visible on the East Coast around 12:12 a.m. on January 21, 2019

A map of the moon with labeled features, from Selenographia by Johannes Hevelius.

The 17th-Century Astronomer Who Made the First Atlas of the Moon

Johannes Hevelius drew some of the first maps of the moon, praised for their detail, from his homemade rooftop observatory in the Kingdom of Poland

1960s science fiction illustration of lunar exploration.

The Missions to the Moon That Never Left the Drawing Board

From pioneers of science fiction to the height of the space race, these are the ideas for lunar flight that never launched

Beneath the Space Window at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where a seven-gram sample of moon rock is incorporated into the design, a sold-out crowd gathered this week for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8.

NASA Won’t Be Going ‘Back’ to the Moon—It Wants to Go Beyond It

At a 50th-anniversary event for Apollo 8, NASA’s Jim Bridenstine envisioned the moon’s potential for future space exploration

“Everyone involved accomplished many, many firsts with that flight,” says Smithsonian curator Teasel Muir-Harmony. of NASA's near-perfect mission, (above: Apollo 8 command module).

How Apollo 8 ‘Saved 1968’

The unforgettable, 99.9 percent perfect, December moon mission marked the end of a tumultuous year

An artist's rendering of the small rover that will be deployed on the far side of the Moon as part of the Chang'e-4 mission.

China Launches First Mission to Land on the Far Side of the Moon

Not glimpsed by humanity until 1959, the surface of the far side of the Moon has never been visited before

A new Smithsonian Book asks the question: Is there a future for crewed missions to the Moon?

In the Wake of Apollo’s ‘Giant Leap,’ What’s Next for Lunar Exploration?

A new Smithsonian Book unpacks the possible future of missions to the Moon

The southwestern city of Chengdu may bask in the glow of an artificial moon as soon as 2020

Chinese City Wants to Launch Fake Moon to Illuminate Its Streets

Proposed satellite would cover 6- to 50-mile wide stretch of Chengdu with light eight times brighter than that of the real moon

Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in First Man.

Smithsonian Curator Reflects on What ‘First Man’ Gets Right About Neil Armstrong’s Journey to the Moon

The new film lays bare the personal sacrifice and peril that accompanied NASA’s historic mission

Well then what would we call a cow that jumps over a moonmoon?

New Research

If a Moon Has a Moon, Is Its Moon Called a Moonmoon?

A new study suggests it’s possible some moons could have moons and the internet wants to give them a name—but scientists have yet to actually find one

New Research

Astronomers Find What May Be First Exomoon—And It’s an Absolute Unit

Astronomers suspect that there’s Neptune-sized celestial body trailing an exoplanet about 8,000 light years

New Research

Why Astronomers Want to Look for Earth’s Mini-Moons

A new, powerful telescope in Chile will be able to detect tiny asteroid chunks circling our planet, which could be a goldmine for researchers

Total lunar eclipse photographed near Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 2007.

The Century’s Longest Lunar Eclipse Will Shroud the Moon This Week

Including phases where the moon is partially masked, the event will last nearly four hours total

Cool Finds

Jupiter Officially Has 12 New Moons

The new satellites are mostly tiny and include one oddball that is on a collision course with some of the 78 other moons orbiting the planet

Apollo 15 Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin salutes the U.S. flag. This photograph was taken by Astronaut David R. Scott, Apollo 15 commander.

Astronauts’ Footprints May Have Warmed the Moon

“Lost” data from the 1970s helped scientists solve an enduring lunar mystery

Europa

New Research

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

Cool Finds

These Rare NASA Photos Were Saved From the Trash

The 1,500 press images up for sale cover the agency’s manned missions from 1961 to 1972

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