Outer Space

A color composite image highlighting pluto's brilliant diversity of color and texture. The western lobe of the heart—an area rich with nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ice—is brightly displayed in the right of the image.

First Official Data From the Pluto Flyby Reshapes the Dwarf Planet’s History

“The ‘little spacecraft that could’ is making a lot of big discoveries,” says Alan Stern

High Definition Video of Jupiter Reveals New Weather in the Great Red Spot

Video portrait shows massive storm changing as it shrinks

The Draconid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week

Clear skies and little moonlight make for great meteor watching

The shiny, dark crust of a meteorite emerges from the snow during an ANSMET collection trip to Antarctica.

Space Rock Hunters Are About to Invade Antarctica

Scientists with the ANSMET program will endure six weeks near the South Pole during an annual field trip to find meteorites

People around the world gathered to photograph and ogle the bright red glow of last night’s supermoon lunar eclipse.

The Photos of the Rare Supermoon/Lunar Eclipse Convergence Do Not Disappoint

Take in the majesty of the unusual astrophysical event with these photos captured around the world

NASA Unveils Giant Ice Cube With Wheels for Exploring Alien Oceans

An underwater rover might one day explore otherworldly seas

50-Year-Old Moon Data Reveals Unseen Earthquakes

Scientists have identified four different types of moonquakes in data left over from Apollo 17

How to Build a Seven-Mile-Wide Scale Model of the Solar System

It takes three-and-a-half miles to get from the Sun to Pluto

Does this look infected?

Life May Have Spread Through the Galaxy Like a Plague

If alien life is distributed in a pattern that mirrors epidemics, it could be strong support for the theory of panspermia

An image of the Italian Alps, snapped in June by the ESA's Sentinel-2, could be used in biodiversity studies.

Why Satellites Are a Biologist's Best Friend

From tracking penguins to coral reefs, satellites are changing the way scientists study ecology

The leading hemisphere of Dione shows tectonic faults running across its surface, along with craters, in false color, which was produced by an image in the ultraviolet, green, and infrared wavelengths taken by the Cassini Orbiter. The subtle variations in color may be caused by fine ice particles.

Today, Cassini Will Say Goodbye to Saturn’s Moon Dione

It's curtains for the NASA mission's close relationship with the satellite

Greetings, 51 Eridani b!

How, and Why, Do Astronomers Take Pictures of Exoplanets?

The latest snapshot of a Jupiter-like world hints at the potential for seeing more diverse planets in direct images

A combined shot shows two Perseids falling a minute apart over Bergen, Norway, on August 13.

See Spectacular Photos From This Year's Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual event sent sparks flying over dark skies as Earth plowed through debris from a comet

Astronauts Have Some Weird Pre-Launch Traditions

Rituals are important when you're about to rocket into space

An artist’s vision of what the night sky would look like from a planet at the heart of an ultracompact galaxy

These Super-Dense Galaxies Are Bursting With Stars

Life in these systems would have trouble starting, but the night skies would be spectacular to behold

Philae snapped this image of 67P over a mile from the comet's surface.

Philae Proves There's More to Comets Than Dust and Ice

The lander found organic compounds on comet 67P

Astrophysicist Dr. Brian May is recognized during a July 17, 2015 New Horizons science briefing at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. May spent a long birthday weekend with the science team, attending two morning science plenaries, a meeting with the Student Dust Counter group, and working on stereo images of Pluto with the Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team.

Queen Guitarist Brian May is Now a New Horizons Science Collaborator

As new images were transmitted from Pluto, the rock-star-turned-astrophysicist rubbed shoulders with his heroes

The Virgin Galactic SpaceShip2 (VSS Enterprise) glides toward Earth on its first test flight after being released from its WhiteKnight2 (VMS Eve) mothership over Mojave, California October 10, 2010. The craft was piloted by engineer and test pilot Pete Siebold from Scaled Composites.

Here's What Caused a Catastrophic Virgin Galactic Crash

Investigators say space plane didn’t have enough safeguards

New Horizons snapped this parting shot of Pluto on July 15, 2015.

New Horizons Snaps a Final Shot of Pluto

So long, dwarf planet!

Silly humans, Pluto is a dog, not a planet.

Of Course Some People Think NASA's Pluto Pictures Are Fake

Or at least doctored to exclude evidence of alien life.

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