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Outer Space

An artist’s conception of a distant Solar System Planet X, which could be shaping the orbits of smaller extremely distant outer solar system objects like 2015 TG387.

New Discovery Stirs Up Signs of the Elusive Planet 9

A new minor planet called “the Goblin” is the second most distant known object in the solar system

Illustration of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observing an M dwarf star with orbiting planets.

TESS Space Telescope Will Find Thousands of Planets, but Astronomers Seek a Select Few

NASA’s new space telescope has already discovered two planets, but the hunt for a world like Earth is just getting started

New Research

Explorers Will Face Dangerous Amounts of Radiation On Their Trip to Mars

New data from the Mars Trace Gas Orbiter shows just the flight there and back alone will expose astronauts to 60 percent the lifetime radiation dose

New Research

The Universe’s Strongest Material is a Cosmic Lasagna

A new study suggests that the “nuclear pasta” found in neutron stars is 10 billion times stronger than steel

Real Planet Discovered Where Vulcan Home World in “Star Trek” Is Set

“Fascinating, Captain”

SpaceX released an updated rendering of the Big Falcon Rocket launching into the solar system

Art Meets Science

Elon Musk Is Sending a Japanese Billionaire to the Moon, and He’s Taking a Group of Artists With Him

Yusaku Maezawa hopes to recruit six to eight artists for the week-long mission, which is expected to launch as early as 2023

New "robotic skins" technology developed by Yale researchers allows users to turn everyday objects into robots.

These “Robotic Skins” Turn Everyday Objects Into Robots

A team at Yale University has developed flexible robotic sheets that can make just about anything move

Artist's impression of galactic wind.

New Research

Astronomers Spot Galactic Wind From Early Universe

The ejection of molecular gas from a galaxy 12 billion light-years away may have kept an early galaxy from burning out too quickly

New Research

Jupiter’s Magnetic Field Is Super Weird and Has Two South Poles

Analysis of data from the Juno probe shows the giant planet’s field is much different from our own and suggests it has a dissolved core

An artist's rendering of a space elevator.

Trending Today

Japan Takes Tiny First Step Toward Space Elevator

Two mini-satellites will test elevator motion in space as part of research for an elevator between Earth and low orbit

The drill hole in the ISS.

Trending Today

Russia Says Hole in International Space Station Was Drilled

Authorities are unsure whether tiny hole in a Soyuz capsule was created in a production facility on the ground or on board the ISS

Artist's rendering of "Orbital Reflector," a reflective space sculpture set to be launched into space this October

Art Meets Science

Astronomers Say This Reflective Space Sculpture Will Cause Unneeded Light Pollution. The Artist Argues Otherwise

‘Orbital Reflector,’ a 100-foot long, diamond-shaped balloon, aims to inspire humans to gaze up at the night sky with a renewed sense of wonder

A STEVE lights up the night over British Columbia.

New Research

STEVE the Purple Beam of Light Is Not An Aurora After All

In a second study of mysterious phenomena, researchers discovered that solar particles hitting the ionosphere do not power the violet, vertical streaks

Throughout the mid-1800s, improvements on the spectroscope allowed physicists to more accurately measure the wavelengths of light and identify new elements—like helium.

How Scientists Discovered Helium, the First Alien Element, 150 Years Ago

First found only on the sun, scientists doubted the mysterious element even existed for more than a decade

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

Betsy Congdon, lead engineer for Parker Solar Probe’s heat shield, looks on as technician Tony Ahan attaches the interface plates that will allow the heat shield above them to eventually be installed onto the spacecraft.

Behind the Scenes With the Spacecraft That Will Soar Through the Sun’s Atmosphere

The probe, which launches Sunday, will attempt to solve enduring mysteries about the sun

The Air Force's X-37B space plane.

Trending Today

The U.S. Military Has Been in Space From the Beginning

While the proposed branch of the armed forces may be controversial, the history of the so-called “Space Force” is longstanding

A view of the Perseid meteor shower over Northern Ireland in 2017.

Why This Year’s Perseid Meteor Shower Promises to Be Especially Dazzling

Thanks to the moon’s conspicuous absence, those looking up at peak viewing hours will see 60-70 shooting stars every hour

An eroded area of the Medusae Fossae Formation.

New Research

Most of Mars’ Dust Comes From One Place

Erosion of the Medusae Fossae Formation has, over billions of years, likely covered the entire planet in 10 feet of volcanic dust

Prototype for a Nonfunctional Satellite (Design 4; Build 4), 2013, a mixed media installation at a hangar in Nevada by Trevor Paglen.

This Artist Dwells in the Clandestine World of Classified Secrets and Surveillance

MacArthur Award recipient Trevor Paglen is launching his own satellite into space this fall—as a work of art

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