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Outer Space

An image from the New Horizons satellite showing three officially named features on Pluto: Norgay Montes, Hillary Montes and Sputnik Planitia

Pluto’s Surface Features Get Their First Official Names

The International Astronomical Union approved 14 dark and heroic names for the erstwhile planet

X9 solar flare emitted by the sun

Trending Today

NASA Captures Strongest Solar Flare in a Decade

This morning, the sun emitted two X-class flares, disrupting GPS and radio signals

Cool Finds

2.8 Million Stars Sparkle in This Incredible Image of the Milky Way

The Gaia star surveyor captured a densely packed area near the center of the galaxy

A development test model of the Voyager spacecraft looms large in the Air and Space Museum's Exploring the Planets gallery.

Forty Years Later, the Voyager Spacecraft Remain Beacons of Human Imagination

Remembering the mission that opened Earth’s eyes to the vastness and wonder of space

An illustration of what the surface of exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f could look like if it had liquid water

New Research

Could These Nearby Earth-Sized Exoplanets Harbor Liquid Water?

Analysis of the TRAPPIST-1 stellar system shows that several of its planets have the right conditions for liquid water

To the naked eye, the Albireo star system looks like a single, brilliant star. In reality, this binary system consists of two stars, similar to the ones witnessed by Korean astronomers nearly 600 years ago.

New Research

The Secret Lives of Cannibal Stars Revealed, Thanks to 15th Century Korean Astronomers

For the first time ever, astrophysicists observe the entire life cycle of a binary star system

Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia

Cool Finds

Astronomers Detect 15 Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts From a Distant Galaxy

The new cosmic blasts may help researchers finally figure out what’s producing the energy in space

Backyard Worlds is using the power of citizen scientists to search for the elusive Planet 9.

The Universe Needs You: To Help in the Hunt for Planet 9

How one citizen science endeavor is using the Internet to democratize the search for distant worlds

The image of Antares captures by VLTI

New Research

This Is the Best Image of a Star Beyond Our Solar System (Yet)

A detailed convection map of the red supergiant Antares is spectacular, but it also shows we don’t know everything that’s going on

Scott Kelly upon his return to Earth.

Scott Kelly’s Journey Home After His Year in Space

America’s longest-orbiting astronaut describes his rocky return to Earth in this adaptation from his book ‘Endurance’

The Sun is seen setting through the Martian atmosphere by the Curiosity rover. Nighttime can bring turbulent snowstorms in the planet's atmosphere

Violent Snowstorms May Rack the Martian Night

Simulations show how the water snow falling on Mars may fall much differently than we’re used to here on Earth

A Near Earth Object

Trending Today

Meet Florence, the Giant Asteroid That Will Buzz by Earth This September

The 2.7-mile-long, near-Earth object will give astronomers a chance to study the asteroid up close

Astronaut Sunita Williams enjoying ice cream the last time it was sent to the International Space Station in 2012

ISS Astronauts Get a Sweet Taste of Real Ice Cream

The latest shipment to the station includes some frozen goodness for the crew

Have an hour or twenty? Take in the mesmerizing views from Slooh's live feeds of space.

Watch Free Live Streams of Outer Space

The astronomy website Slooh has lifted the paywall on footage from its telescopes

A meteor from the Perseids is seen falling over the Very Large Telescope array in Chile.

Catch the Perseid Meteor Shower’s Fiery Show

Though the moon will partially obscure the normally dazzling sight, the shower’s peak is still worth a peek

Asteroid 2014 MU69 may be composed of two spheres

Cool Finds

New Horizon’s Next Target Is an Oddly Shaped Asteroid

New data shows that MU69 is less than 20 miles long and may actually be two asteroids orbiting one another

Voyager 1 is currently zipping along at around 38,000 miles per hour​ nearly 13 billion miles from Earth.

Send a Birthday Message to Voyager 1, Humanity’s Most Distant Traveler

To mark its 40th anniversary, NASA is asking for your help crafting a message

On Earth, creatures from sharks to snails to these coral polyps light up the darkness. Are glowing aliens really that far-fetched?

Life in the Cosmos

Could We See Glow-in-the-Dark Aliens From Earth?

Extraterrestrial life might make its own light to protect itself from harmful radiation

The LEM model missing from the Armstrong Museum

Trending Today

Thieves Steal Solid Gold Lunar Lander Model From Armstrong Museum

The five-inch model was created by Cartier as tribute from French newspaper readers to the Apollo 11 astronaut

An illustration shows the satellite Cassini moving near Saturn and its largest moon Titan

Potential Ingredients for Life Found on Saturn’s Moon Titan

But that life likely wouldn’t look like what we’re used to here on Earth

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