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"What Stars Are Made Of" by Donovan Moore.

Book excerpt: 'What Stars Are Made Of' (Harvard University Press, 2020)

By Donovan Moore

In his new book, "What Stars Are Made Of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin," author Donovan Moore tells the story of a young British scientist at the forefront of astrophysics.

Visualization of a Calabi-Yau manifold, a structure representing the 6 dimensions of space-time that are curled up, according to string theory.

Exploring new tools in string theory

By Paul Sutter

String theorists are shifting focus to solve some rather sticky problems in physics.

Pluto’s haze layer displays a blue color in this image obtained by the New Horizons spacecraft's Ralph/Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera. Image released Oct. 8, 2015.

Pluto's wispy atmosphere may be surprisingly robust

By Mike Wall

Pluto's thin, blue-tinged air may not collapse when the dwarf planet is far from the sun.

Built with multifunctional appendages able to spin wheels that can also be wiggled and lifted, this mini rover was modeled on the design of NASA’s Resource Prospector 15 prototype. The colorful little robot was used in the laboratory to develop and test complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills composed of granular material, here ordinary beach sand.

Future Mars and moon rovers may paddle their way out of sand traps

By Mike Wall

Researchers recently took a new look at novel locomotory strategies developed for a NASA moon-exploration project, and the results were encouraging.

Factory smoke stacks releasing clouds of greenhouse gases.

Air pollution levels will bounce back as COVID-19 restrictions loosen, scientists say

By Chelsea Gohd

Smog has cleared as people stay inside and factory production is halted, but it won't last.

An artist's illustration of water plumes erupting from the icy ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa.

Scientists peer back in time to find new evidence for watery plumes on Europa

By Chelsea Gohd

Scientists looked back in time to offer new evidence suggesting that plumes of water vapor shoot out from Jupiter's moon Europa into space.

Amateur astronomer and Comet SWAN discoverer Michael Mattiazzo of Castlemaine, Australia, captured this image of the comet on May 7, 2020.

Newfound Comet SWAN could soon fizzle out of view

By Joe Rao

During the next couple of weeks we'll have a chance of seeing a new comet as it sweeps past the sun — that is, if the comet doesn't fizzle first.

A high-res, colorful view of Saturn's Hexagon.

Saturn's weird hexagon has 'sandwich-like' layers of hazy mists

By Chelsea Gohd

There's an extensive system of haze layers in the bizarre hexagon on Saturn, a new study has found.

Arabic-based star names in the constellation Ursa Major, as shown in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in 1824.

How are stars named?

By Steve Fentress

Who gets to name the stars?

The dark streaks on some Martian slopes known as recurring slope lineae — imaged here by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — may be caused by salty liquid water, some scientists think.

Mars may be wetter than we thought (but still not that habitable)

By Mike Wall

Mars is wetter than previously thought, but not in a way that boosts its life-hosting potential, a new study suggests.

An artist's depiction of a super-Earth exoplanet.

Scientists spot super-Earth planet in Earth-like orbit

By Meghan Bartels

Scientists suspect they have identified an intriguing new alien planet in a particularly roundabout way.

This image of Mars, captured by the HiRISE instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, features Izola mensa, an outcrop in the northwestern rim of Hellas Basin.

Mars orbiter finds evidence of ancient, long-lived rivers on the Red Planet

By Hanneke Weitering

Rivers could have been raging on ancient Mars for hundreds of thousands of years, a new study finds.

Four tropical cyclones simultaneously churn across the Western Hemisphere in this image captured by the GOES-16 weather satellite in September 2019. Weather forecasting/monitoring is just one of many ways that space tech improves our lives.

Space technologies can help solve Earth's challenges (op-ed)

By Dylan Taylor

Space exploration technologies have already helped benefit Earth in many ways, especially when it comes to communications, Earth observation and even fostering economic growth.

Artist's impression of the Kepler-88 system

Kepler-88 has a new king! Planet three-times Jupiter's mass discovered in alien star system

By Gemma Lavender

A new world has been confirmed in the Kepler-88 planetary system, tipping the scales at three-times the mass of solar system giant Jupiter.

A full-disk view of Jupiter in infrared light, as seen by the Gemini Observatory on May 29, 2019.

Scientists get their best-ever look at Jupiter's atmosphere and storms

By Meghan Bartels

It's always dark and stormy on Jupiter — and now, scientists have gotten their most detailed view of the wild storms that swirl through the gas giant's atmosphere.

Earth and Moon as seen by the Galileo spacecraft.

Four amazing astronomical discoveries from ancient Greece

By Gareth Dorrian, Ian Whittaker

Almost as interesting as what they knew, however, is what they did not know.

The closed dome of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

Inside the world's largest sun-spotting telescope

By Nola Taylor Redd

In January 2020, Space.com had the chance to get up close and personal with the Daniel K. Inoye Solar Telescope, the world’s largest solar telescope.

Diagram of a proposed network of solar-sailing "statite" craft, which would look for interstellar objects zooming through the solar system and potentially allow up-close study of such visitors.

Solar-sailing sentries could allow up-close study of interstellar visitors like 'Oumuamua

By Mike Wall

A fleet of solar-sailing sentries stationed far from the sun could someday allow scientists to get up-close looks at interstellar visitors like the mysterious 'Oumuamua.

Hayabusa2 casts a shadow on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu during a landing maneuver.

Japanese probe's asteroid Ryugu encounter hints at space rock's dynamic history

By Meghan Bartels

A Japanese spacecraft trekking across the solar system has yet to deliver its precious cargo of space rocks, but its data is already giving scientists a preview of an asteroid's dynamic history.

This image of the rocket-powered descent stage sitting on top of NASA's Perseverance rover was taken in a clean room at Kennedy Space Center on April 29, 2020. The integration of the two spacecraft was the first step in stacking the mission's major components into the configuration they will be in while sitting atop of the Atlas V rocket.

NASA starts packing Mars rover Perseverance ahead of July launch

By Mike Wall

Percy keeps rolling through milestones here on Earth.