Outer Space

The Orion spacecraft during the fifth day of the Artemis 1 mission on Nov 20, 2022

NASA Pushes Back America's Return to the Moon to 2027, With the Next Artemis Program Flight Slated for 2026

The space agency's decision comes after an investigation into the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, which suffered damage during the Artemis 1 test mission in 2022

A Hubble Space Telescope portrait of Jupiter, captured in August 2019, shows the gas giant's cloud bands and storms in detail, including its iconic Great Red Spot.

Look Up for a Dazzling View of Jupiter This Weekend as It Shines Its Brightest of the Year

On December 7, the “king of planets” will line up with the Earth and sun in an event known as opposition. It will be visible all night and offer prime viewing, especially through binoculars or a telescope

Computer simulated global view of Venus' northern hemisphere. 

Did Venus Have Oceans? This Surprising New Study Suggests Not, a Theory That Could Upend the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

The astronomers behind the research looked to the output from the nearby planet's toxic volcanoes for clues

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy with MIRI (its Mid-Infrared Instrument).

See the Sombrero Galaxy Like Never Before, as the James Webb Telescope Captures It in Unprecedented Detail

The mid-infrared light image shows astronomical features that can’t be seen with visible light cameras or in previous infrared views—and in this shot, the galaxy doesn’t look much like a Sombrero anymore

A stock illustration of an asteroid near Earth. Astronomers believe our "mini-moon" originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt.

Earth Bids Goodbye to Its 'Mini-Moon' as Astronomers Investigate Where Our Planet's Asteroid Companion Came From

Preliminary research suggests asteroid 2024 PT5, which stuck around Earth for almost two months, has lunar origins

Stephan's Quintet includes four distant galaxies that are connected through gravity and one galaxy that is much closer to us but just happens to lie in the same direction in the sky.

Astronomers Spot a Galaxy Smashing Into Its Neighbors at 800 Times the Speed of a Fighter Jet

The collision in Stephan's Quintet was observed by WEAVE, a new instrument on one of the world's most powerful telescopes, in its first major scientific results

An artist's interpretation of the newly discovered planet and a warped debris disk

Astronomers Discover a 'Newborn' World, the Youngest Known Transiting Exoplanet

At nearly three million years old, the exoplanet is about the age of a two-week-old baby in planet-years

This view is just part of a new, high-resolution image of the sun's full surface captured by the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

Check Out the Highest-Resolution Images Ever Captured of the Sun's Entire Surface

Four new images show our nearest star in dazzling detail, with each one made up of 25 shots observed by the Solar Orbiter in 2023

The near side of the moon has been studied more extensively than the far side.

The Far Side of the Moon Was Volcanically Active, New Studies Confirm

Scientists analyzed the first and only rock samples from the region, which were brought back to Earth as part of a recent Chinese mission

One of the images that triggered rumors about astronaut Suni Williams' health. Here, she displays radiation measurement hardware.

NASA Addresses Rumors About Health of Starliner Astronaut on the International Space Station—Again

The space agency’s chief health and medical officer refutes claims that Suni Williams, who is on the unexpectedly extended Boeing Starliner mission, appears unhealthily thin

On September 4, 1967, six identical silver disks appeared at equidistant locations along a plumb-straight line that bisected southern England.

How British College Students Convinced Authorities That Flying Saucers Were Invading the U.K.

To raise awareness for a charity event, aspiring engineers planted six UFOs across southern England on a single day in 1967

The Super Hunter's Moon of October 2024 rises over a headland near Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

See the Full Beaver Moon on Friday, the Last Dazzling Supermoon of 2024

November's spectacle closes out a series of four big and bright full moons that have captivated sky watchers since late summer

An artist's rendering of the X-37B conducting an aerobraking maneuver using the drag of Earth's atmosphere, with the bottom of the craft glowing red as it heats up.

The Secretive Spaceplane of the U.S. Space Force Conducts First-of-Its-Kind Maneuvers

Called aerobraking, the technique allows the highly classified craft to change orbit without using propellant—and some are wondering why the agency has let us in on this news

The Leonids sometimes produce fireballs, or unusually bright streaks of light that linger in the night sky. 

How to See the Stunning Leonid Meteor Shower This Weekend

Though the nearly full moon will likely outshine some of these speedy meteors, you may still be able to catch a glimpse of bright fireballs and low Earth-grazers

In 1986, Voyager 2 took this image of Uranus during its flyby.

Voyager 2 Measured a Rare Anomaly When It Flew Past Uranus, Skewing Our Knowledge of the Planet for 40 Years, Study Suggests

The roughly six-hour flyby in 1986 revealed Uranus' protective magnetic field was strangely empty. Now, researchers say that the data could have been affected by a solar wind event

Image captured by Juno during its 66th perijove, then further processed with color enhancement by Gerald Eichstädt and Thomas Thomopoulos.

Check Out the Stunning New Images of Jupiter From NASA's Juno Spacecraft

On its 66th flyby of the king of planets, Juno has captured spectacular views of the stormy atmosphere, processed by citizen scientists

In a version of the iconic "Pillars of Creation" image, the James Webb Space Telescope turned its powerful near-infrared-light cameras on the Eagle Nebula in 2022.

This Stunning New Atlas Explores Humanity’s Ancient Relationship With Space and the Universe

Written by the former chief historian of NASA, the book examines the evolution of our cosmic understanding—from early civilizations to the present day

NASA's aging Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012 and has faced a handful of technical issues over the last year, even as it continues to collect scientific data.

Voyager 1 Breaks Its Silence With NASA via a Radio Transmitter Not Used Since 1981

The farthest spacecraft in the universe went momentarily rogue, but scientists breathed a sigh of relief when it reconnected at an unexpected radio frequency

A photo of Neptune, taken by the Voyager 2 probe, with the colors rebalanced to represent its truest appearance

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made About Neptune

Despite the lack of a dedicated mission to the planet, scientists have learned plenty through ground observations and space telescopes

Analysis of the Bullet Cluster, which was formed after two large clusters of galaxies collided, supports the existence of dark matter.

After Decades of Searching, Are Physicists Closing In on Dark Matter?

With no conclusive laboratory results, researchers are turning to other methods to find the elusive substance

Page 4 of 78