Astronomers

Pluto and its moon Charon

New Definition Would Make the Moon and Pluto Planets

A suggested update to the International Astronomical Union criteria would add over 100 planets to the solar system

Artists rendering of the suspected Planet 9

NASA Wants the Public to Log In to Help Find Planet 9

Citizen scientists can examine photos to help discover a new planet, which recent evidence suggests is hiding at the edge of the solar system

Cunitz was among the few who saw the truth in Johannes Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, which stated that planets moved in elliptical orbits around the sun. Here, a concept drawing of the Earth and moon in orbit around the sun.

The 17th-Century Lady Astronomer Who Took Measure of the Stars

Astronomer Maria Cunitz might not be such an anomaly, were other women given the same educational opportunities

An artist's impression of the gas being stripped away from spiral galaxy NGC 4921

Dark Matter Could Be Destroying Distant Galaxies

The mysterious substance may suck gas from the galaxies—and a gasless galaxy is a dead galaxy

A model of the binary star system KIC 9832227, which could explode around 2022.

Catch a Star Exploding in Action in 2022

Just five years from now a pair of stars are predicted to merge, forming a glittery and bright new point in the sky

CAMS results for November 28 to December 14 from 2010 to 2016. Each point is direction from which a meteor was measured to approach, with red showing faster meteors and blue slower ones.

Introducing the Global Effort to Map the Night Sky

How astronomers around the world are piecing together a patchwork quilt of celestial activity

Artists rendering of all the telescopes that helped track down FRB 121102

Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Traced to Dwarf Galaxy in the Auriga Constellation

Knowing where they originate will help researchers understand what creates the mysterious high-energy signals

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková as seen in October 2011

Fireworks Not Your Thing? Then Look Out For a Comet on New Year’s Eve

With a telescope in hand, you can watch a comet zoom past the Earth tomorrow night

Vera Rubin makes observations through the Flagstaff Telescope.

Five Things to Know About Boundary-Breaking Astronomer Vera Rubin

Her observations confirmed the theory of dark matter, and her activism helped open science to more women

A compressed view of the entire visible sky from the Pan-STARRS1 Observatory

Massive Survey Catalogues the Night Sky

Over four years, the Pan-STARRS telescope collected 2 petabytes of photos of the night sky, creating the most complete astronomical atlas yet

Tycho Brahe was extremely wealthy and lived an unusual life that included a pet moose.

Astronomer and Alchemist Tycho Brahe Died Full of Gold

The shiny element was important to Renaissance scientists. Very important

John Glenn stands in the NASA mailroom surrounded by thousands of letters sent to him.

John Glenn and the Sexism of the Early Space Program

Fan mail sent to the astronaut reveals the rigidity of gender roles in the 1960s

Margaret Harwood sits on the floor for this posed tableau taken on May 19, 1925. Harvia Wilson is at far left, sharing a table with Annie Cannon (too busy to look up) and Antonia Maury (left foreground). The woman at the drafting table is Cecilia Payne.

In "The Glass Universe," Dava Sobel Brings the Women 'Computers' of Harvard Observatory to Light

Women are at the center of a new book that delights not in isolated genius, but in collaboration and cooperation

Sputnik Planitia is a 325,000-square-mile, ice-covered basin on Pluto.

How the Pull of an Icy “Heart” Sent Pluto’s Poles Wandering

Using New Horizons data, scientists determine that the erstwhile planet has a more dynamic past than we thought

Behold: The World's Largest Radio Telescope

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array, located in the Atacama Desert, is the product of a 20-year global effort by Europe, North America, and East Asia

ALMA Reveals Planets Born Earlier Than We Thought

In 2014, astronomer David Wilmer aimed the ALMA Array at a young star 450 light years away

The Biggest Supermoon in 68 Years Will Leave You “Moonstruck”

It hasn't been this close since 1948 and won't be again for the next 18 years

Artist concept of a binary system similar to the one that originated the nova Sagittarii 2015 N.2.

Most Lithium in the Universe Is Forged in Exploding Stars

The recurring explosions of white dwarf stars produce the vast majority of this important element

Region R18 in the Carina Nebula

Stunning Images Capture the Carina Nebula's "Pillars of Destruction"

Caught by ESO's Very Large Telescope, the ten pillars of gas and dust are a hazy star nursery 7,500 light years away

Asteroid 2016 VA just before it passed into the Earth's shadow.

Astronomers Just Watched an Asteroid Skim Through Earth’s Shadow

The short video was tricky to shoot

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