Astronomy

Brother Guy Consolmagno, a staff astronomer and the curator of meteorites at the Vatican Observatory

Guy Consolmangno, the Vatican’s Chief Astronomer, on Balancing Church With the Cosmos

The MIT graduate speaks to how he ended up studying the stars for the Catholic Church

An artists' conception of a dust storm on Mars. New research may explain why the truly massive dust storms seem to occur irregularly on the Red Planet.

Mars Weather Forecast Calls for Massive Dust Storms -- Here's Why

Planetary-wide dust storms on Mars, lasting for months, may be linked to the motion of the Red Planet around the solar system.

The three brightest stars in the image make up the Summer Triangle.

The Red Planet and Summer Triangle Will Soon Shine Bright

Mars is swooping closer to the Earth this week while the Summer Triangle rises in the sky

Astronomers Recreate Ancient Skies to Date a Nearly 2,600-Year-Old Greek Poem

Researchers narrow down the dates for when the lonely poet Sappho wrote "Midnight Poem"

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

Kepler Discovers More Than 1,000 New Exoplanets

The space telescope is still alive and kicking

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

These Little-Known Nuns Helped Map the Stars

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

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

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

An Eta Aquarid meteor shower puts on a show in 2013 over the Canary Islands.

Meteors Will Streak the Skies This Week Thanks to Halley’s Comet

Don't miss this annual show

David Eagleman

Neuroscientist David Eagleman on What Is Possible in the Cosmos

The author tackles where the human brain and astronomy intersect

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

The remnant of SN 1006

Ancient Arabic Text Shines Light on Massive Supernova

A new look at records from an ancient astronomer yields insights into one of the brighest supernovas ever seen from Earth

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.

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.

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

A new simulation visualizes how distant galaxies might be connected

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

The Hubble Telescope has been in orbit for 26 years

This is a hypothetical set of possible universes.

Can Physicists Ever Prove the Multiverse Is Real?

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

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: Special Report

Exploring the mysteries of the universe

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

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

The Planet-Hunting Kepler Telescope Entered Emergency Mode

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

Galaxy NGC 1600

Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Common Than Previously Thought

Astronomers have found a huge black hole in a "cosmic backwater," opening the possiblity there could be many more in the universe

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