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Outer Space

This self-portrait of Curiosity shows the vehicle at a drilled sample site called "Okoruso," on the "Naukluft Plateau" of lower Mount Sharp. It combines multiple images taken with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on May 11, 2016, during the 1,338th Martian day.

Looking Back at Curiosity’s 2,000 Martian Days on the Red Planet

The rover has taken incredible images and made wild discoveries since landing in 2012

New Research

70,000 Years Ago, a Passing Star Shook Up Our Solar System

The red dwarf likely came within one light-year of the sun, altering the course of some asteroids and comets

NASA’s Psyche mission to a distant metal asteroid that pass near Mars will carry a revolutionary Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) package. This artist’s concept shows Psyche spacecraft with a five-panel array.

NASA Plans to Send High-Definition Video of Mars to Earth With Lasers

In 2022, NASA will launch the Psyche mission, carrying sophisticated communication technology

How It All Began: A Colleague Reflects On the Remarkable Life of Stephen Hawking

The physicist probed the mysteries of black holes, expanded our understanding of the universe and captured the world’s imagination, says Martin Rees

An artist's illustration of the Tiangong-1 space lab in orbit.

Trending Today

Five Things to Know About China’s Falling Space Station

For one, it’s exceedingly unlikely to cause you harm

The eight cyclones orbiting Jupiter's north pole.

New Research

New Juno Data Gives Unprecedented Glimpse Beneath Jupiter’s Stormy Shell

The massive planet’s storm go much deeper than previously suspected and its interior rotates nearly as a solid mass

Bigelow's inflatable modules, called B330, could host commercial ventures and travelers in the near future.

Cool Finds

A Space Hotel Could Be Coming Soon to Skies Near You

Bigelow Aerospace wants to launch two inflatable modules for a space habit as early as 2021

Artist's illustration of PTScientist's Audi Quattro Lunar Rover visiting NASA's 1972 rover.

Trending Today

4G Coverage Bound for the Moon in 2019

A private moon mission scheduled for next year will use an ultra-compact network to beam back live images of the lunar surface

Nicknamed the Hand of God, this pulsar wind nebula is powered by a pulsar: the leftover, dense core of a star that blew up in a supernova explosion. Before astronomers had any idea what they were, Jocelyn Bell Burnell found the signal of a pulsar in her telescope data in 1967.

Women Who Shaped History

Fifty Years Ago, a Grad Student’s Discovery Changed the Course of Astrophysics

By identifying the first pulsars, Jocelyn Bell Burnell set the stage for discoveries in black holes and gravitational waves

If you look closely at the lower right of galaxy NGC 613, the baby supernova pops into existence at the end of one of the galaxy's spiral arms.

New Research

Amateur Astronomer Captures Supernova’s First Winks of Light

Scientists say the chances were less than one in a million

SpaceX launches it's first re-used Falcon 9 rocket

Five Things to Know About SpaceX’s First Internet Satellite Launch

Along with an earth-observing satellite, the company will be testing two of a planned 12,000 internet satellites

Fragments of Famed ‘UFO’ Discovered in Archives of London Museum

Though experts deemed it a hoax, the ‘Silpho Saucer’ created a sensation when it was discovered in the 1950s

KBO 2012 HZ84 (left) and 2012 HE85 (right)

Cool Finds

New Horizons Snaps Farthest Image Ever Taken From Earth

Drifting 3.79 billion miles from home, the NASA probe took pictures of two Kuiper Belt objects

Is SpaceX Being Environmentally Responsible?

Falcon Heavy’s flashy space car may not have been the best idea—for Mars

Falcon Heavy awaiting launch at the Kennedy Space Center

Trending Today

Watch SpaceX’s Successful Launch of Their Falcon Heavy Rocket

After seven years of designing and tinkering, the most powerful rocket in the world hurtled into space

Researchers estimate more than a trillion planets could exist in the elliptical galaxy at the center of this image.

New Research

Astronomers Spot Signs of Planets Outside the Milky Way

Researchers estimate that more than a trillion planets may lurk beyond our galaxy’s bounds

Reports of weird, wondrous, and worrying objects in the skies date to ancient times.

How UFO Reports Change With the Technology of the Times

Fears of Zeppelins, rockets and drones have replaced the “celestial wonders” of ancient times

The most detailed image ever taken of Lupus 3, a dense cloud of gas and dust that collapses to create new stars. This image is a compilation of data from the VLT Survey Telescope and the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope.

Dark Nebula Hides a Brilliant Streak of Baby Stars

South American observatory captures most detailed peek yet at Lupus Clouds stellar nursery

The IMAGE satellite

Cool Finds

Amateur Astronomer Finds Long-Lost NASA Satellite

The hobbyist was in search of the lost Zuma satellite when he spotted IMAGE, which went offline in 2005

The moon turned blood red when the moon passed through Earth's shadow on September 28, 2015.

Don’t Miss This Celestial Triplet: a Blue Moon, Supermoon and Lunar Eclipse

January’s second full moon will appear slightly larger during its blood-red lunar eclipse

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