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Outer Space

A scanning electron microscope image shows sodium carbonates in a sample from the asteroid Bennu. Each needle is less than one micrometer wide by five to ten micrometers in length—for comparison, a human hair is about 100 micrometers wide.

Scientists Discover Traces of Salt Water and Building Blocks of Life in NASA’s Samples From the Asteroid Bennu

Two new papers describe hints to a brine-filled environment on the 4.5-billion-year-old space rock and the presence of amino acids, offering clues to how early Earth got its ingredients for life

A self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover, taken on June 15, 2018

Curiosity Rover Spots Ancient Water Ripples on Mars, Hinting at a Past With Shallow, Ice-Free Lakes

The 3.7-billion-year-old formations in the planet’s Gale Crater suggest the presence of long-gone bodies of liquid water, with no ice covering the surface

The next several weeks will give skywatchers a chance to see many planets at once.

How to See Six Planets Lined Up in the Night Sky This Month—and Glimpse a Rare Seven-Planet ‘Parade’ in February

While the planets are technically always “aligned” along the same plane in our sky, seeing so many at once is a special opportunity

A section of the new photomosaic of the Andromeda Galaxy, which features 600 fields of view in total from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Check Out the Hubble Space Telescope’s Stunning New View of the Andromeda Galaxy

The full image includes some 2.5 billion pixels compiled from observations spanning more than 1,000 orbits around Earth

Homeowners found star-shaped debris outside their home on Prince Edward Island, Canada, after a meteorite strike in July.

Cool Finds

Meteorite Crash in Canada Is Caught by Home Security Camera in Likely World-First Video Footage

The space rock—recorded with visuals and sound—landed where the homeowner had been standing just minutes earlier

Experts are concerned that artifacts and bootprints on the moon might be affected by lunar landing missions, space tourism and space junk.

The Moon Makes the List of the World’s Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in 2025

Earth-bound landmarks ravaged by war, climate change, tourism and other threats also landed in the World Monuments Watch report

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on January 15, carrying two lunar landers built independently by private companies Firefly Aerospace and Ispace.

Two Private Landers Launch on a SpaceX Rocket, Aiming to Touch Down on the Moon

Built by Firefly Aerospace and Ispace, the pair of spacecraft will land separately in the moon’s northern latitudes, conduct science experiments and test new technology

An artist’s concept of a white dwarf orbiting a supermassive black hole and shedding matter

Astronomers Found Strange, Accelerating X-Ray Pulses Coming From a Black Hole. They Might Be a Sign of an Orbiting White Dwarf

The dense stellar remnant would, if confirmed, be the closest known object to any black hole, according to preliminary research

Craters at Mercury's poles contain permanently shadowed areas that are some of the coldest sites in the solar system, despite their proximity to the sun.

New, Stunning Images of Mercury’s North Pole Will Help Scientists Study the Planet’s Mysterious Permanent Shadows

The BepiColombo spacecraft captured the photographs during its last flyby of Mercury, a maneuver necessary to propel the mission into orbit around the planet

A composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 14, 2015.

A Novel ‘Kiss and Capture’ Event Gave Pluto Its Largest Moon, Charon, New Study Suggests

Researchers accounted for the previously overlooked structures of the dwarf planet and moon in computer simulations of a celestial collision

Did colonial Americans wear wristwatches? 

Did Colonial Americans Wear Wristwatches? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Find your nearest dark-sky site and mark your calendars for these stunning astronomical spectacles in 2025.

11 Dazzling Celestial Events to See in 2025, From a Total Lunar Eclipse to Rare Planetary Alignments

Keep your eyes on the sky this upcoming year for a chance to spot breathtaking meteor showers, a special view of Saturn and a blood-red moon

The Quadrantids only last for about six hours, but they're known for producing fireballs, or bright, fiery streaks that persist longer than average meteors.

How to Watch the Quadrantid Meteor Shower, an Intense Spectacle With a Short but Strong Peak

The skyward show will produce many shooting stars from the evening of January 2 into the early morning hours of January 3—here’s how to make the most of the fleeting celestial event

An illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun

A NASA Spacecraft Will ‘Touch’ the Sun on Christmas Eve, Flying Closer to the Star Than Any Probe Before

The Parker Solar Probe will endure scorching temperatures of 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit as it performs the closest solar flyby of any human-made object in history

With its clear, dark skies, Colorado's Browns Canyon National Monument is an ideal spot to admire planets, constellations and the Milky Way.

A New Dark Sky Park in Colorado Offers a Front-Row Seat to the Cosmos

This week, Browns Canyon National Monument, a 21,586-acre protected natural area in central Colorado, achieved International Dark Sky Park certification

Stories in a wide variety of scientific disciplines made our list this year.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2024

From a total solar eclipse that captivated our continent to record temperatures that scorched the planet, these were the biggest moments of the year

Our most-read stories of the year featured photographer Vivian Maier, underwater caves in the Yucatán Peninsula, auroras and more.

Ten Top Smithsonian Stories of 2024, From a Mysterious Underground Chamber to Dazzling Auroras

The magazine’s most-read articles of the year included a close-up look at the adorable yet venomous pygmy slow loris, a profile of a little-known 20th-century street photographer and a majestic journey with divers into Mexico’s underwater caves

A solar flare erupts from the sun on June 20, 2013, seen at the left of the image.

Superflares Erupt From Sun-Like Stars Roughly Every 100 Years, a New Study Finds. Is Our Sun Overdue for a Massive Blast?

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections could cause serious damage to telecommunications systems, satellites and power grids here on Earth

A representation of the evolution of the universe over 13.77 billion years.

James Webb Telescope Confirms the Universe Is Expanding Faster Than We Thought—and Scientists Still Don’t Know Why

The findings suggest that astronomers’ widely accepted cosmology models might be missing something—meaning the longstanding mystery known as the “Hubble tension” continues

An artist's illustration shows the James Webb Space Telescope peering out into the solar system toward the asteroid belt.

Astronomers Detect the Smallest Main Belt Asteroids Ever Found by Repurposing a Technique for Exoplanet Discovery

An unusual approach to spotting tiny asteroids uses James Webb Space Telescope data in a boost for planetary defense research

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