Science & Astronomy

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a grey orb partially lit against black background

Juno flies past Jupiter's icy moon Europa in 1st spacecraft visit since 2000

By Andrew Jones published

NASA's Juno probe is all set for a close flyby of Jupiter's icy moon Europa on Thursday (Sept. 29), which could possibly reveal tremendous new insights into Europa's crust and interior.

rippled swirl of stars against black background

The Milky Way is 'rippling' like a pond, and scientists may finally know why

By Brandon Specktor published

New research suggests that a strange 'ripple' is causing the Milky Way's stars to vibrate out of step, and an ancient collision with Sagittarius may be to blame.

Europe's Hera spacecraft accompanied by two cubesats will investigate the battered asteroid Dimorphos in detail in 2027.

Asteroid-smash aftermath: Why Europe is sending a probe to DART-battered Dimorphos

By Tereza Pultarova published

More than four years after DART's collision with the asteroid Dimorphos, Europe's Hera mission will help validate the space rock deflection experiment.

Countless white lines streak across the image of the Milky Way bar along the center. The white lines represent the motion of stars.

Milky Way galaxy: Everything you need to know about our cosmic neighborhood

By Tereza Pultarova, Daisy Dobrijevic published

Reference We are living in a golden age of Milky Way research and exploration.

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Artist's illustration of Venus

Venus: The scorching second planet from the sun

By Charles Q. Choi, Chelsea Gohd published

Reference Planet Venus will have a flurry of spacecraft visit it in the next few years as scientists seek to learn more about the volcanic, lava-filled planet.

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NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this natural-color image of Hurricane Ian at about 12:00 a.m. EDT (16:00 GMT) on September 27, 2022,

Satellites track monstrous Hurricane Ian as it threatens 'catastrophic' devastation in Florida

By Tereza Pultarova published

Hurricane Ian has grown into an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm above the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Florida landfall.

a rock against a space background with Earth and moon in background

Evidence of dinosaur-killing asteroid impact found on the moon

By Robert Lea published

Lunar glass reveals that large meteorite strikes on Earth, like the impact that killed the dinosaurs, were not isolated events.

glowing orb

Astronomers discover traces of 'super-supernovas' that destroyed earliest stars

By Robert Lea published

Astronomers have discovered the chemical traces of the universe's earliest stars that died in super-supernova explosions.

Hurricane Ian swirls in an image captured by NOAA's GOES 16 satellite ahead of Florida landfall.

Pictures from space! Our image of the day

By Space.com Staff published

shiny object on dark reddish surface

Mars is littered with 15,694 pounds of human trash from 50 years of robotic exploration

By Cagri Kilic published

airplane with hold in side

NASA's flying telescope is coming to the end of its mission but leaves a strong science legacy

By Stefanie Waldek published

Since 2014, SOFIA has been cruising through the night skies around the world, looking at the cosmos, but that mission ends this week.

observatory watches as signal from space spirals into large dish

Repeating fast radio burst with weird magnetic field challenges magnetar explanation

By Keith Cooper published

The repeating blasts of a fast radio burst from a galaxy like our own is challenging a proposed explanation for these fleeting but energetic bursts of radio waves.

Lunar eclipses don't require any specialist equipment to view. Here a series of moon phase images arranged in a horizontal line show the progression of a lunar eclipse.

What are lunar eclipses and how do they occur?

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

Reference Lunar eclipses occur when Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow over the surface of the moon. We explore the different types of lunar eclipses here.

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Hurricane Ian as a Category 3 storm in the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 27, 2022.

Hurricane Ian approaching Florida as powerful Category 3 storm, satellite images show

By Tariq Malik published

Hurricane Ian battered Cuba and turned toward the west coast of Florida on Tuesday (Sept. 26) as satellites track the harrowing storm from space.

Asteroid Dimorphos is larger than Rome's Colosseum.

NASA's DART asteroid impact won't make Dimorphos hit Earth — but here's what would happen if it did

By Tereza Pultarova published

NASA's DART mission didn't nudge its target asteroid toward Earth, but there could be other space rocks on a collision course with Earth.

two bright blobs, one surrounded by wispy rays

Behold the 1st images of DART's wild asteroid crash!

By Meghan Bartels published

DART truly made a mess last night.

A sequence of images showing the brightening of asteroid Didymos immediately after the impact of NASA's DART spacecraft.

Astronomers stunned as binary asteroid Didymos-Dimorphos brightens after DART space rock impact

By Tereza Pultarova published

Astronomers watched in awe as binary asteroid Didymos brightened up immediately after the impact of NASA's DART mission on Monday (Sept. 26).

two grey lumps against black background. Didymos is on the left and dimorphos on the right.

Didymos binary asteroid system: NASA's target for DART

By Vicky Stein published

Reference Didymos is a binary asteroid system that NASA's DART mission visited during the agency's first planetary defense mission.

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Artist's illustration showing the DART spacecraft approaching Dimorphos.

NASA's DART asteroid-smashing mission: The ultimate guide

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

Reference NASA's DART mission was the first to test asteroid deflection for planetary defense by smashing a spacecraft into an asteroid. Explore the mission here.

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JunoCam

Behold this fantastic 3D animation of Jupiter's frosting-like clouds

By Jeff Spry published

New JunoCam 3D renders of Jupiter's cloud tops look like a magical fairyland.