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Outer Space

The Aurora Australis as seen from the International Space Station in 2011

Cool Finds

Astronaut Captures ‘Awesome Sauce’ of Aurora From Space

Humans have been amazed for millennia by these atmospheric events

There are mind-bogglingly vast quantities of alcohol in outer space. Sadly, it's so dispersed you’d have to travel half a million light years to make a pint of beer.

Guess What? Space is Full of Booze

We’ll toast to that

Colors on this satellite image show areas where water was detected in ancient pyroclastic flows on the Moon's surface

New Research

Water May Lurk Beneath the Moon’s Surface

The surprising abundance of water could help future lunar settlers survive in the barren landscape

Looking out at Earth from the Cupola Observation Module of the International Space Station on Google Street View

Cool Finds

Explore the International Space Station With Google Street View

An astronaut and Google mapped the ISS for Street View with a DSLR and a lot of patience

Trending Today

Apollo 11 Moon Rock Bag Sells for $1.8 Million in Controversial Auction

NASA waged an unsuccessful legal battle to retrieve the bag, which contains traces of lunar dust, from a private collection

An artist's rendering of a star colliding with the surface of a supermassive sphere. In recent years some scientists have surmised that black holes may be hard objects rather than a region of intense gravity and compressed matter.

Could You Crash Into a Black Hole?

Probably not, but it’s fun to think about

New Research

“Space Archaeologists” to Examine the International Space Station

Using millions of photos and documents, researchers will reconstruct life on the ISS to see how visitors interact with their tools and each other

Adorable Drone Helps Document Experiments on the International Space Station

Cute as a button, the Int-Ball is taking over astronauts’ photographic duties

This still from an animation created by NASA shows some of the mountains and craters observed by the New Horizons satellite.

Take a Trip Around Pluto and Charon With These New Animations

Two years after its fly-by, NASA releases maps and videos made with data from New Horizons

New Research

Astronomers Find the Smallest Star Yet

The faint orb is just a smidgen bigger than Saturn and around 2,000 to 3,000 times dimmer than our own sun

An artistic rendering of Juno approaching the Great Red Spot while orbiting Jupiter

Trending Today

Stunning Images Capture First Close-Up With Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Take a peek at the solar system’s largest storm

On July 8, 1947, a headline in the local paper in Roswell, New Mexico ignited 70 years of "flying saucer" sightings.

In 1947, A High-Altitude Balloon Crash Landed in Roswell. The Aliens Never Left

Despite its persistence in popular culture, extraterrestrial life owes more to the imagination than reality

Trending Today

Geek Out to This Asteroid Day Livestream

For 24 hours a YouTube channel will host discussions on space rocks and their potential impacts on Earth

The cloud in the upper left hand part of the image are from a barium release—with the purple-red ionized cloud oriented along the Earth’s magnetic field lines. The blue and white trail in the lower portion of the image is from a tri-methyl-aluminum vapor trail that follows neutral wind.

Trending Today

NASA Launch Will Dot the Sky With Colorful Clouds

No, it’s not aliens or a massive conspiracy plot—just a space-age study of the atmosphere

Auroras on Uranus caused by changes in its magnetosphere

New Research

Magnetic Field Around Uranus Are a Chaotic Mess

Using data from the Voyager 2 mission, researchers have modeled Uranus’s off-kilter magnetosphere

Researchers now think that most stars—like this pair in the Perseus constellation—form in pairs.

New Research

Our Sun Probably Grew Up With a Sibling

But now its buddy is long gone

New Research

Kepler Finds 219 New Planets

NASA released the final catalog from its planet-hunting telescope, bringing its total up to 4,034 potential planets

Jerrie Cobb stands before a Project Mercury space capsule in heels and gloves. What you can't see: inside the capsule, a male mannequin lies in the place where an astronaut eventually would. The FLATs were never seriously considered for astronaut positions.

Meet the Rogue Women Astronauts of the 1960s Who Never Flew

But they passed the same tests the male astronauts did—and, yes, in high heels

"Steve" the aurora was discovered by amateur skywatchers, who are helping scientists learn more about this atmospheric phenomenon.

Will the Next Great Scientific Discovery Be Made by Amateurs?

There are more options than ever to get involved, and your input can help solve big problems in science

New Research

Jupiter Could Be the Solar System’s Oldest Resident

The early former may have set up just the right conditions for Earth to take shape

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