Astronomy

NASA's Kepler spacecraft launched on March 6, 2009. Today, technology and international collaborations are democratizing the space race.

Opening the Space Race to the Entire World

A new era of collaboration and affordable technology has scientists across the globe sending spacecraft into outer space

Look Up! The Perseid Meteor Shower Is Going to Be a Doozy This Year

The number of shooting stars could double this year

An image of a nebula used in "The Hubble Cantata."

The Cosmos Sings in This Fusion of Astrophysics and Music

<i>The Hubble Cantata</i> brings the stars down to earth

An artist's conception of four of the new planets, orbiting a single dwarf star. These small, rocky worlds are far closer to their star than Mercury is to our sun, but the star is smaller and cooler than our own.

Kepler Just Found 104 New Planets Outside of Our Solar System

Is anyone home?

A Delta Aquarid meteor streaks across the sky.

Keep Your Eyes to the Sky for the Delta Aquarid Meteors This Month

The late-July meteor shower heralds the popular Perseids

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.

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

Galaxy GN-z11 seen in its youth by the Hubble telescope. GN-z11 is shown as it existed 13.4 billion years in the past, just 400 million years after the Big Bang.

If Telescopes Are Time Machines, the JWST Will Take Us the Furthest Back Yet

The James Webb Space Telescope promises to peer back into the making of the first galaxies

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

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

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

These Ancient Tombs May Have Been Both Grave and Observatory

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

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

Catch the Solar System’s Best Light Show With New Images of Jupiter’s Auroras

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

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

Track These Space Rocks From Your Couch on Asteroid Day

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

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.

Breathtaking Images to Celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope Getting Another Five Years of Life

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

The Bullet Cluster, originally detected using weak lensing

“Weak Lensing” Helps Astronomers Map the Mass of the Universe

By making galaxies a little bit brighter, it points the way to elusive galaxies and lets us detect that most mysterious of substances: dark matter

An illustration of asteroid 2016 HO3's orbit.

Scientists Spot Tiny Asteroid Tagging Along Behind The Earth

It's our very own “quasi-moon”

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

Here’s What Will Happen When Juno Gets to Jupiter

It all goes down July 4

Artist's impression of the simultaneous stellar eclipse and planetary transit events on Kepler-1647. Such a double eclipse event is known as a syzygy.

This Jupiter-Sized Planet Is the Largest Found Orbiting Two Suns

Any orbiting moons could be habitable—but scientists have yet to spot them

The supernova designated SN 2016cok can be spotted at the edge of the Messier 66 galaxy, marked by the two rectangular crosshairs.

Spy Two Supernovae in June's Night Sky

After millions of years, their light is finally bright enough to see from Earth

Look up—there's more to the Grand Canyon than geology.

Grand Canyon Turns Down Its Lights to Become a Dark Sky Park

Star gazers, rejoice—the skies above the Grand Canyon will never lose their sparkle

This artist's concept depicts select planetary discoveries made to date by NASA's Kepler space telescope.

How Would You React If We Discovered Alien Life?

Experts weigh in on what the detection of other life forms might mean to the human race

Telescope array

The Hunt for High-Energy Photons Takes Place From a Mountaintop in Mexico

A new telescope built from water tanks might help answer some of the biggest questions in astronomy

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