Science & Astronomy

Latest

An illustration of NASA's asteroid-visiting Lucy spacecraft as it swings past Earth for a gravity assist, with one solar array not fully deployed.

NASA's Lucy asteroid-scouting mission resumes work on solar arrays in deep space

By Andrew Jones published

The team behind NASA's Lucy asteroid mission is resuming work with the spacecraft to fully deploy and latch its second solar array after a recent successful Earth flyby.

An artist's impression of a comet flying through space trailed by twin streams of gas and dust.

Massive eruption from icy volcanic comet detected in solar system

By Harry Baker published

Astronomers observed a major eruption from a volcanic comet flying through the solar system, likely spewing more than 1 million tons of debris into space.

A detailed view of the inner ring of the galaxy NGC 1097 captured by the VLT's new ERIS instrument.

Peer into the exposed heart of a galaxy in mesmerizing new image

By Robert Lea published

A new image shows the exposed heart of a distant galaxy in stunning detail, demonstrating the promise of a recent addition to the Very Large Telescope.

Mt Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java seen spurting clouds of volcanic smoke by NASA's Landsat 9 satellite.

Pictures from space! Our image of the day

By Space.com Staff published

The Landsat 9 satellite captured an eruption of the Semeru volcano on Indonesia's Java island on Sunday, Dec. 4.

Artist's illustration of the ESA Solar Orbiter in the foreground approaching the sun shining in the background.

Solar Orbiter: Seeing the sun like never before

By Tereza Pultarova last updated

Reference Solar Orbiter is a Europe-led sun-observing mission that takes the closest-ever images of the star at the center of our solar system to shed light on its mysterious behavior.

Reference
The colorful strands of gas glowing in orange and blue are the remains of a supernova triggered when a massive star reached the end of its life.

Hubble telescope captures the colorful fireworks left by a star's violent death

By Robert Lea published

Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have created a stunning image of a cosmic fireworks display resulting from the explosion of a massive star.

December moon phases 2022 illustrated with a series of images showing the moon progressing from fully illuminated to partially illuminated then not illuminated and then partially illuminated again.

What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2022

By Tariq Malik last updated

Reference See the phase of the moon tonight and the rest of the moon phases for 2022, and when you can see them.

Reference
Graphic illustration of an atomic model with a nucleus containing protons and neutrons and electrons "orbiting" around the nucleus.

Neutrons: Facts about the influential subatomic particles

By Keith Cooper published

Reference Neutral particles lurking in atomic nuclei, neutrons are responsible for nuclear reactions and for creating precious elements.

Reference
An infrared image of the Orion Nebula showing hotspots that mark the birth of new stars.

Orion Nebula image tells a dramatic tale of stellar death and rebirth

By Robert Lea published

A new image of the closest star-forming nebula to Earth shows the effect massive stars have in transforming the region.

A Hubble Space Telescope image of two galaxies joined by a tidal tail.

Space photos: The most amazing images this week!

By Doris Elin Urrutia last updated

Hawaii's Mauna Loa erupts for the first time in decades, a meteorite contains two minerals new to science and a stellar bridge connects two galaxies. These are some of this week's top photos.

NASA's Orion spacecraft looked back at Earth on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022 using a camera mounted on one of its solar arrays. The uncrewed capsule flew past the record distance from Earth set by the 1970 Apollo 13 command module two days later.

The top space stories of the week!

By Doris Elin Urrutia last updated

The Andromeda galaxy has a history of galactic "cannibalism," the James Webb Space Telescope beholds Saturn's moon Titan and Artemis 1 is officially coming back to Earth. These are some of this week's top stories.

An artist's depiction of the James Webb Space Telescope in deep space.

Artemis 1 moon mission squeezing communications with James Webb Space Telescope

By Meghan Bartels published

Two major NASA missions that have launched in the past year are revealing a communications weakness in space.

A view from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of a crater on Mars that formed in 2012.

Megatsunami swept over Mars after massive asteroid hit the Red Planet

By Charles Q. Choi published

A Martian megatsunami may have raced across the Red Planet after a cosmic impact similar to the one that likely ended Earth's age of dinosaurs, a new study finds.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured the galaxy merger Arp-Madore 417-391 in a photo released Nov. 21, 2022.

Hubble Space Telescope captures dazzling embrace of merging galaxies

By John Loeffler published

A newly released photo from the Hubble Space Telescope captures a spectacular galaxy merger in progress.

An interactive map of the universe displaying the actual positions and real colors of 200,000 galaxies.

Beautiful interactive map of the universe lets you journey through space-time almost to the Big Bang

By Robert Lea published

A new interactive map of the cosmos allows users to journey from our galaxy to the most distant sources of light that existed just after the Big Bang.

An illustration of a meteorite in space heading towards Earth.

Meteorites reveal how they brought space water to Earth

By Elizabeth Rayne published

Meteorites that fall to Earth are ancient time capsules, and scientists who merged two imaging techniques may be able to tell us if and how they brought water to Earth.

Two views of Saturn's moon Titan captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument.

James Webb Space Telescope view of Saturn's weirdest moon Titan thrills scientists

By Meghan Bartels published

It's been a cloudy season for Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

two masked people in protective suits work at the bottom of a spacecraft

Europa Clipper instrument delays worry scientists eyeing 2024 launch

By Meghan Bartels published

NASA's bold mission to explore Jupiter's icy moon is facing tight schedules getting instruments installed and ready for the planned 2024 launch.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover watches a rocket carrying some of its collected samples launch from the Red Planet's surface in this still from a NASA/ESA animation.

Here's how NASA and Europe will bring Mars samples back to Earth (video)

By Andrew Jones published

A new video shows how a team of NASA and European Space Agency spacecraft plan to relay Martian rock samples to Earth.

The canyon-like hole, visible as a dark gulf running vertically down the sun's center.

Solar storm from 'canyon-like' hole in the sun could hit Earth as soon as Thursday (Dec. 1)

By Ben Turner published

The hole could beam solar material outwards at speeds up to 1.8 million mph (2.9 million kph)