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Outer Space

An artist's depiction of Kepler's latest planetary find.

New Research

Kepler Discovers More Than 1,000 New Exoplanets

The space telescope is still alive and kicking

Cool Finds

Will Luxembourg Lead the Race for Space Mining?

The tiny nation announced its private industry partners for asteroid mining

Sisters Emilia Ponzoni, Regina Colombo, Concetta Finardi and Luigia Panceri mapped the positions and brightness of 481,215 stars.

Cool Finds

These Little-Known Nuns Helped Map the Stars

A century later, the identities of women who mapped over 481,000 stars are finally known

Pictured left: Cancun, Mexico on May 14, 2014; pictured right: Helen Frankenthaler, Canyon, 1965

These Photos Taken From Space Look Astonishingly Like Art Masterpieces

ASTER reveals how art imitates reality

An illustration of the path Mercury will take across the sun on May 9.

Cool Finds

For The First Time in a Decade, Watch Mercury Cross the Sun’s Face

Next week’s transit of Mercury is one of the major astronomical events of the year

Cool Finds

Astronomers Deploy a Laser System for a Clearer View of the Skies

A new four-laser system at the Paranal Observatory will help the massive telescope compensate for atmospheric turbulence

This artist's concept shows the distant dwarf planet Makemake and its newly discovered moon. Makemake and its moon, nicknamed MK 2, are more than 50 times farther away than Earth is from the sun.

Think Big

Hubble Spies a Tiny Moon Orbiting Dwarf Planet Makemake

Our solar system still has plenty of surprises

A visualization of the Varying Length Model of the cosmic web.

Cool Finds

Take in the Beauty of This Gravity Web That Connects Galaxies Across the Universe

A new simulation visualizes how distant galaxies might be connected

"Science fiction is so important to our culture, because it allows us to dream," said Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division, at the "Future is Here" festival.

Future Is Here Festival

The Future Is Here Festival Considers Extraterrestrial Life and the Essence of Humanity

In the festival’s final day, speakers turn to the cosmos and our place within it

Future is Here festival attendees heard from visionaries in a wide range of fields.

Future Is Here Festival

How to Make Science Fiction Become Fact, in Three Steps

Speakers at Smithsonian magazine’s “Future is Here” festival said be patient, persistent, but never, ever pessimistic

Cool Finds

The Hubble Scoped This Space Bubble Just in Time For Its Birthday

The Hubble Telescope has been in orbit for 26 years

Jekan Thanga (right) and students holding FemtoSats

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Tiny Satellites Can Be Launched Into Space for as Little as $1,000

Researchers at Arizona State University may be paving the way for consumer satellite flight

This is a hypothetical set of possible universes.

Think Big

Can Physicists Ever Prove the Multiverse Is Real?

Astronomers are arguing about whether they can trust this untested—and potentially untestable—idea

Cool Finds

Watch Earth’s Atmosphere Brilliantly Light Up From Space

The glow isn’t from an aurora, it’s a phenomena called airglow

Chandra image of the Antenna Galaxy.

Life in the Cosmos

Life in the Cosmos: Special Report

Exploring the mysteries of the universe

The 1917 photographic plate spectrum of van Maanen's star from the Carnegie Observatories’ archive.

New Research

Scientists Discovered Exoplanets More Than 70 Years Earlier Than Thought

A 1917 glass plate discovered in an observatory archive records the first evidence of exoplanets

Artist's rendering of the Alpha Centauri system

Trending Today

Stephen Hawking and Billionaire Announce Project to Send Tiny Probes to Nearest Star System

Yuri Milner is investing 100 million dollars in research to develop a swarm of tiny probes for a mission to Alpha Centauri

Trending Today

The Planet-Hunting Kepler Telescope Entered Emergency Mode

The probe suddenly went into a safe mode for unknown reasons last week

The remnants of a supernova.

New Research

Radioactive Isotopes in The Oceans May Be Remnants of Ancient Supernovae

Cosmic dust may have altered life on Earth as we know it

Lot 62, Willamette Meteorite Slice: The 15.6 ton Willamette Meteorite is probably the largest meteor ever found the continental United States. Discovered in Oregon in 1902 and exhibited at the 1905 World’s Fair in Portland, it eventually ended up in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In 1990, Oregon and a coalition of Native Americans sued to get the meteor back. They lost, but the museum agreed to never cut the meteor again, making this 1.15 pound slice incredibly rare

Cool Finds

Sneak a Peek at the Multi-Million Dollar Meteorites Soon up for Sale

Christie’s is auctioning off dozens of rare and important meteorites, including pieces of the rock that exploded over Russia in 2013

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