Articles tagged as Outer Space | Smithsonian Magazine

Visitors take a guided tour of the Barringer Meteorite Crater in northern Arizona.

Big Boom: The Best Places to See Meteorite Impact Craters

Ancient impacts changed landscapes and perhaps even the course of evolution—here’s where to see the coolest craters this summer

July 18, 2016

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

It’s not spiraling out of control, and even if it was, it wouldn’t enter the atmosphere until 2017

July 14, 2016

This spectacular image of the Orion Nebula star-formation region was obtained from multiple exposures using the HAWK-I infrared camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.

New Research

Breathtaking New Images Capture Failed Stars and Planet-Sized Objects Inside the Orion Nebula

It’s the deepest look into the nebula ever seen before

July 13, 2016

An astrophysicist makes the case that it might be worthwhile to revisit the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 to safeguard the practice of science on the lunar surface.

Can There Be Real Estate on the Moon?

A Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist thinks a legal crisis is waiting for us on the surface of the moon.

July 13, 2016

Cool Finds

The Code That Sent Apollo 11 to the Moon Just Resurfaced Online and Is Chock-Full of Jokes

Published on GitHub, the array of in-jokes, pop culture and Shakespeare asides in the comments on the code show the human side of the project

July 11, 2016

Jupiter's moon, Europa, is one of the most promising candidates for life elsewhere in the solar system.

Cool Finds

Juno Will Eventually Go Up in Flames to Protect Theoretical Alien Life

Juno, we hardly knew you

July 7, 2016

An artist's concept of a moon-sized body slamming into a Mercury-sized world in another solar system. High speed collisions like this were more likely to occur in systems with gas giants, but they took place early in a planet's life, allowing time for the world to recover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Space Hub

How a Young Jupiter Acted as Both Protector and Destroyer

Like a boisterous older sibling, the gas giant both beat up and protected young Earth

July 6, 2016

Cool Finds

This Is What Jupiter Sounds Like

Listen as Juno bursts into the gas giant’s magnetosphere

July 5, 2016

An artist's rendition of Juno in orbit around Jupiter. The craft is powered entirely by the sun's rays.

Space Hub

It’s Official: We Are Now in Orbit Around Jupiter

After a nerve-wracking entry, NASA spacecraft Juno successfully entered the gas giant’s orbit

July 5, 2016

Photograph of the megalithic cluster of Carregal do Sal, one of the passage graves in Portugal that may have doubled as an ancient telescope.

New Research

These Ancient Tombs May Have Been Both Grave and Observatory

The best view of the heavens could be from within the tomb

July 1, 2016

Ultraviolet images overlying a photo of Jupiter taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

Jupiter’s Auroras Are the Best Light Show in the Solar System

June 30, 2016

Help astronomers track asteroid 2010 NY65 as it streaks across the sky on Asteroid Day

With just a click, you can help astronomers learn more about two nearby asteroids

June 30, 2016

The "Mystic Mountain" image released for the Hubble's 20th anniversary showcases a three-light-year tall pillar of gas and dust stretching out of the Carina nebula. Mostly made of cool hydrogen, the structure is created by stars releasing jets of gas, which is worn away by radiation from other nearby stars, giving it its eroded shape.

These amazing views are just a selection of the beautiful images the craft has captured over the years

June 28, 2016

Perhaps it's best that this comet is billions of miles away from Earth.

Cool Finds

This Perfume Smells Like a Comet

Yum?

June 27, 2016

Cool Finds

Meet Three of Earth’s Tiny Celestial Buddies

A handful of quasi-satellites, mini-moons and Trojan asteroids tag along with Earth as it whizzes around the sun

June 20, 2016

Just what lies beyond the next valley, canyon, crater, or hill is NASA's perpetual question.

Art Meets Science

Check Out NASA’s Retro Mars Recruitment Posters

Farmers, teachers, surveyors and engineers will all be needed in the envisaged Mars settlement

June 17, 2016

An illustration of asteroid 2016 HO3's orbit.

New Research

Scientists Spot Tiny Asteroid Tagging Along Behind The Earth

It’s our very own “quasi-moon”

June 17, 2016

New Research

A New Hitch in the Plan for Building a Space Elevator

Carbon nanotubes may not be as strong as scientists once thought

June 17, 2016

This concept drawing shows Juno in orbit around the solar system's largest planet.

It all goes down July 4

June 16, 2016

An artist's rendition of merging black holes that produce gravitational waves.

Trending Today

Gravitational Waves Strike Twice

Scientists announce the second detection of gravitational waves

June 15, 2016