Outer Space

"The show was another spectacular one! Reds and greens and yellows! The sky has just been on fire!" the photographer enthuses on Spaceweather.com.

Severe Solar Storm Paints the Sky Green on St. Patrick's Day

A burst of particles from the sun is hitting our atmosphere and lighting up the night as far south as Illinois

The colorful salt terraces in the Dallol region of Ethiopia are hot targets for astrobiologists seeking extreme microbial life that could resemble extraterrestrials.

This Alien Color Catalog May Help Us Spot Life on Other Planets

A digital library of reflectance spectra from microbes could be a powerful tool for spotting signs of extraterrestrials

A Solar Flare and a Volcano Blizzard Are Among These Stellar Shots

An X-class explosion and a snowy satellite image feature among our picks for the week's best space images

A view of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Galaxy May Be Way Bigger Than We Thought

New data analysis suggests that the Milky Way may be 50-percent larger than previously believed

The zodiacal light.

Catch a Glimpse of the Zodiacal Light Show This Month

For some in the northern hemisphere, a celestial treat sometimes referred to as “false dusk” is lighting up the night

These Cosmic Visions Include a Mars Ocean and a Supernova Quartet

The red planet's deep blue sea and a rare Einstein cross feature among the week's best space images

Artist’s conception of Dawn entering orbit around Ceres

Dawn Has Arrived at Ceres

Downlink connection confirms that the spacecraft is in orbit around the dwarf planet

Dragonfly wings have a complex, rigid surface that is maintained by a network of veins. The subtle colors of this immature Black Meadowhawk are caused by sunlight reflecting off the not-quite transparent wings.

These Dragonflies Helped an Astronomer Find Ghostly New Galaxies

A Yale scientist set out to capture the insect's full lifecycle and ended up discovering hidden wonders of the cosmos

These Cosmic Eye-Poppers Include a Technicolor Comet and an Impossible Black Hole

An ancient monster and a turquoise bay feature among our picks for the week's best space pictures

These Stellar Wonders Include a Red Aurora and a Billowing Black Hole

A light show over Montana and an eruption snapped by a satellite feature among our picks for the week's best space images

This optical atomic clock uses strontium atoms to tell time.

Send Atomic Clocks to Space to Find Gravitational Waves

A new breed of the hyper-accurate clocks could help scientists detect the elusive ripples in space-time faster and cheaper

These Spacey Treats Include a Galactic Smiley Face and an Interstellar Rose

A lucky lens and a pair of mismatched star twins feature among our picks for the week's best space images

Black holes create and destroy galaxies, like this spiral galaxy in the constellation Dorado.

Technology from ‘Interstellar’ Could Be Useful to Scientists, Too

The movie’s visual effects are now being used for scientific research

Melts in your mouth, not in microgravity.

The Rich and Flavorful History of Chocolate in Space

From vacuum-sealed pudding to Blue Bell ice cream, astronauts have been taking the treat into orbit since the dawn of the space age

These Cosmic Visions Include a Moon Parade and a Naked Nebula

Jovian giants and newly seen stars are among our picks for the week's best space-related images

Spire’s Austin Ellis shows off a satellite frame at Spire's San Francisco headquarters. Components, like the weather sensor, stack on top of each other inside the frame. Solar panels and antennae fold out from the frame once the device is in orbit.

New Satellite Network Launching This Year Aims to Improve Weather Forecasting

With a network of compact, low-cost weather satellites with smartphone-like internals, startup Spire plans to make future forecasts a lot more reliable

How Space Travel Can Damage Our Immune Systems

Research finds that living in low-gravity conditions can take a toll that goes far beyond an aversion to dehydrated foods

In the garden, Levisticum is a tall plant with dark leaves and greenish-yellow flowers. Under a microscope, however, it can morph into a cellular rainbow. This image was made using polarized light to enhance contrast. Waves in polarized light share an orientation, and special filters can block out any unpolarized waves and make the fine details easier to see.

New Exhibit Showcases the Power of Light in Our Everyday Lives

The open-source show "LIGHT: Beyond the Bulb" crosses disciplines to show the many ways photonics has improved our lives

Cosmic Jaw-Droppers Include a Twisted Galaxy and an Aurora Rocket Volley

From Martian vistas to glowing red nebulae, check out our picks for the best space images of the week

The sun sets behind the BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole.

Nope, We Have Not Detected Gravitational Waves (Yet)

Leaked news from teams studying the early universe says the signal hailed as our first peek at space-time ripples really is just dust

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