Latest articles by Nola Taylor Tillman
What Makes Jupiter's Great Spot Red? It's Still a Mystery
What gives Jupiter's Great Red Spot its distinct color? A new study shows why the answer may not be easy to find.
NASA's Deep Space Network: How Spacecraft Phone Home
The Deep Space Network is NASA's worldwide radio telescope array that makes it possible to communicate with spacecraft.
Earth Observing System: Monitoring the Planet's Climate
NASA's Earth Observing System is a collection of satellites that monitor the planet's climate system over an extended period.
Stennis Space Center: NASA's Largest Rocket Testing Site
Since 1961, the John C. Stennis Space Center has tested rockets that went to the moon and those that will carry humans even farther.
Monster-Black-Hole Jets May Finally Explain 3 Superfast Cosmic Particles
A new theory connects three of the most energetic particles in the universe.
How Astronomers Are Measuring Monster Black Hole Masses Faster Than Ever Before
A new, ultrafast method of measuring the mass of massive black holes in distant galaxies could help scientists better understand how these monsters influence the lives of galaxies.
Tiny Ringed Object Beyond Saturn May Reveal Secrets About Giant Planets
Watch out, giant planets! Smaller solar system bodies are starting to boast rings of their own!
Citizen-Scientists Shined Bright During 2017's Great American Solar Eclipse
The sun spilled its secrets to citizen-scientists during the Great American Solar Eclipse.
Skywatching Event of the Year: How a Solar Eclipse Captivated America in 2017
While 2017 included several astronomical highlights, the Great American Solar Eclipse of Aug. 21 stands out as the biggest skywatching event of the year, if not all time.
Trump's 'Back to the Moon' Directive Leaves Some Scientists with Mixed Feelings
Solar system researchers reveal their thoughts about Trump's plan to visit the moon before sending humans to Mars.
Oddball Object Tumbling Among the Stars Could Disrupt Planetary Science
The solar system's first-observed interstellar emissary hints at undiscovered populations of exoplanets and violent origins.
Life on Mars: Exploration & Evidence
Missions to Mars have searched, but haven't found definite proof of life past or present.
Dwarf Planet Ceres' Bright Spots Suggest an Ancient Ocean
Ceres' bright patches may overlie pools of salty water, which could be the remnants of an ancient, subsurface ocean.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is More Than 50 Times Deeper Than Earth's Ocean
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is more than 50 times deeper than Earth's ocean.
Valles Marineris: Facts About the Grand Canyon of Mars
This 2,500-mile system is one of the larger canyons in the solar system.
200-Year-Old Journal Reveals Rare American Sunspot Records
A journal of a Maine reverend reveals detailed sunspot observations during the 1816 "year without a summer."
Mars' Moons: Facts About Phobos & Deimos
The two small bodies that orbit the red planet raise a number of questions about the formation of the early solar system.
Phobos: Facts About the Doomed Martian Moon
The moon's orbit brings it 6 feet closer to the red planet every century.
Early Earth Took a Heavy Beating After the Moon Was Formed
Collisions scarred early Earth as much as five times more often than previously thought.
When Triton Crashed the Party at Neptune
Neptune's largest moon may have gotten rid of some of the planet's original satellites, throwing some into the ice giant, swallowing up some itself and hurling the rest out into space.
