Planetary Orbits May Explain Mystery of Sun's 11-Year Cycle By Passant Rabie The planets' tidal forces influence the rhythm of the sun, according to a new study.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Turns 10, with Lessons for Moon Missions By Elizabeth Howell NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launched 10 years ago today and will likely guide future human moon landings.
NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt By Rafi Letzter A NASA mission to an ancient iron-nickel hunk has entered its final design phase, a key milestone on the way to reaching the distant destination in the mid-2020s.
Meteor 'Smoke' May Spawn Cotton Candy Clouds on Mars By Nola Taylor Redd Cotton candy clouds in the Martian middle atmosphere may owe their life to dying meteors.
NASA Is Tracking One of Earth's Most Valuable Resources — Water By Elizabeth Howell Water is a complex problem on Earth: Some places get far too little of it and some get far too much.
Bam! Fresh Crater Spied on Mars — and It Looks Spectacular By Elizabeth Howell A small space rock crashed into the Martian surface recently, producing a fresh crater that researchers estimate is 49 feet to 53 feet (15 to 16 meters) wide.
Migrating Baby Exoplanet Sculpts Disk Around Newborn Star (Photos) By Mike Wall Intricate ring structures in the outer portion of the disk of dust and gas that surrounds the young star HD 169142 were likely carved by a newborn planet on the move.
Blue 'Lunar Corona' Frames the Full Moon in Eerie Night-Sky Photo By Miguel Claro This abstract night-sky photo shows the full moon peeking through wispy clouds and barren tree branches while surrounded by brilliant, blue lunar corona.
India Will Launch an Ambitious Moon Orbiter-Lander-Rover Combo in July By Tariq Malik India is about to take its biggest leap to the moon yet next month, with a mission to land at the lunar south pole.
NASA's 2020 Mars Rover Gets Its 1st Wheels, and a Mast, Too (Ahoy!) By Mike Wall Engineers have installed the headlike mast on the Mars 2020 rover and put on a (temporary) set of wheels as well.
Did the Beta Taurid Meteor Shower Cause the 1908 Tunguska Explosion? By Joe Rao Next month, astronomers will scan the Beta Taurid meteor shower in search of asteroids that might someday threaten a potentially catastrophic collision with Earth.
'Cold Quasars' May Be at the End of Their Lives, But They Can Still Birth Stars By Nola Taylor Redd Despite signs that they are at the end of their lifetime, some galaxies may continue to produce stars, contrary to expectations.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Probe Breaks Its Close-Orbit Record at Asteroid Bennu By Mike Wall NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling probe has shattered the close-orbit record it set less than six months ago.
Magnetic Fields May Muzzle Milky Way's Monster Black Hole By Nola Taylor Redd The mysteriously quiet behavior of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole may be influenced by magnetic field lines.
International Experiments Selected for China's Space Station By Leonard David The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the China Manned Space Agency have announced the winners of their joint opportunity to conduct experiments onboard the China Space Station.
NASA Wants to Build a 'Starshade' to Hunt Alien Planets. Here's How It Would Work By Mike Wall Starshade exoplanet-hunting missions may be technologically daunting, but they're not beyond NASA's reach, recent research suggests.
NASA Spacecraft Spots 'Star Trek' Logo on Mars By Elizabeth Howell It looks like Starfleet is literally embedded on the planet next door: A dune in the shape of the famous logo from "Star Trek" appears prominently in a new picture from Mars.
This Tiny Galaxy Has a Pretty Big Black Hole By Passant Rabie A dwarf galaxy has an unusually large black hole.
Yes, Saturn's Rings Are Awesome — NASA's Cassini Showed Us Just HOW Awesome. By Meghan Bartels When the solar system decided it liked Saturn and wanted to put a ring on it, it put together the most stunning, complex puzzle ring possible.
'Eyes in the Skies': The Intrepid Probes That Show Us Space — And Earth By Doris Elin Salazar As auditorium lights were dimming for an event called "Eyes in the Skies," a girl and her mother made their way to a pair of front-row seats.
