Science & Astronomy

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The barred spiral galaxy M1 captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

See a behemoth black hole and spiral galaxy like only the Hubble telescope can

By Samantha Mathewson published

A monstrous black hole lies at the center of a distant galaxy photographed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

This still image from a NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory video shows a powerful X1.1-class solar flare erupting from the sunspot AR2994 as it turns away from Earth on April 30, 2022.

Sun erupts with powerful solar flare from departing sunspot

By Tariq Malik published

An active sunspot on the sun turning away from Earth unleashed a powerful parting shot as it moved out of view on Saturday (April 30).

Artist's impression of discrete auroras over Mars.

Newfound auroras on Mars defy easy explanation

By Elizabeth Howell published

Scientists with the United Arab Emirates' Mars mission have spotted a 'worm-like' aurora stretching halfway across the Red Planet.

A view of Half Moon Island and Bransfield Strait in Antarctica.

Underwater volcano in Antarctica triggers 85,000 earthquakes

By Tia Ghose published

The swarm of 85,000 earthquakes that struck Antarctica was the strongest seismic outburst ever recorded there.

Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will launch in 2014 on a mission to rendezvous with the asteroid 1999 JU3 in 2018 and return samples of the space rock to Earth in 2020.

Japan's asteroid samples faced surprise challenges on Earth: A pandemic, traffic jams and airport security

By Meghan Bartels published

Collecting rocks from an asteroid is rocket science; getting them to the lab is another story.

Tantalus Fossae, associated with Alba Mons, based on Mars Express data.

New Mars images shows 'fingernail' gouging-like features on surface

By Elizabeth Howell published

Scratches and grooves on the Martian surface look like a huge 'fingernail' was gouging out regolith on the Red Planet, but there's a volcanic origin to these features.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), will orbit the sun 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope: The ultimate guide

By Elizabeth Howell, Daisy Dobrijevic published

Reference Everything you need to know about the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's Big Bang-probing space observatory.

Reference
Two telescopes from the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory are visible in this image taken from Chile’s Atacama Desert, along with the Milky Way overhead.

See the Milky Way sparkle with two telescopes in Chile's Atacama Desert in this stunning photo

By Elizabeth Howell published

The Milky Way serves as a celestial pathway between two telescopes in a stunning image from Chile's Atacama Desert.

Libra has been an object of fascination in the night sky for many years.

Libra Constellation: Facts, location, stars and exoplanets of the scales

By Robert Lea published

Reference The Libra Constellation is found in the Southern Hemisphere during the winter and the Northern Hemisphere in the summer. Here we explore the scales in detail.

Reference
The SOFIA flying observatory.

NASA to ground SOFIA flying observatory mission for good

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's SOFIA flying observatory will lift off for the final time later this year.

Venus as seen by Japan's Akatsuki orbiter in December 2015.

Why is a day on Venus longer than a year? The atmosphere may be to blame.

By Scott Dutfield published

Venus' dense and stormy atmosphere is the cause why a day on the scorching planet is longer than a year, a new study suggests.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope can now capture sharp images of celestial objects with multiple instruments, the agency announced April 28, 2022.

Sharp pictures! James Webb Space Telescope completes alignment in huge milestone

By Elizabeth Howell published

All four of Webb's instruments now capture "crisp, well-focused images" of celestial objects, NASA says.

The sun let off a double solar flare on Monday, April 25, 2022.

Sunspot sends off double flare, as solar activity ramps up

By Stephanie Pappas published

A restless sunspot sent off a double solar flare on Monday (April 25), temporarily disrupting some radio communications in Asia and Australia.

Some of moon's water deposits may have come from Earth.

Some of the moon's water may come from Earth, study suggests

By Tereza Pultarova published

Some of the water deposits that scientists believe exist on the moon may have an unexpected source — the atmosphere of our Earth.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is seen in early 2022 on its way to the vacuum chamber at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA's Psyche asteroid spacecraft passes shake-and-bake test and meets the press

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's Psyche is scheduled to launch in August to journey to a metal asteroid.

There's a 'groundbreaking' result coming concerning the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

'Groundbreaking' Milky Way results from telescope network behind 1st black hole image coming soon

By Elizabeth Howell published

Earth's planet-scale observatory network, best known for creating the first-ever image of a black hole, is ready to report new results about the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

The Iceland Space Agency supported the MS2 ERE1 project, which was done in partnership with AdventureX to test and further develop a spacesuit simulator.

Iceland emerging as popular practice site for moon and Mars exploration

By Leonard David published

Iceland is an increasingly popular testing zone for spacesuits, habitats and off-world vehicles.

An artist's impression of comets hurtling towards Beta Pictoris.

Largest treasure trove of exocomets to date found in alien solar system

By Keith Cooper published

Thirty alien comets have been spotted transiting the young star Beta Pictoris, their long tails lighting up the skies of the fledgling planets forming there.

This artistic concept image shows an asteroid flying by Earth.

'Potentially hazardous' asteroid twice the size of the Empire State Building will skim past Earth Thursday, NASA says

By Ben Turner published

A gigantic "potentially hazardous" asteroid that may be twice the size of the Empire State Building is set to zoom past Earth Thursday (April 28), according to NASA.

Artist's illustration showing the CAPSTONE spacecraft in a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon.

Little CAPSTONE cubesat ready to launch on big moon mission next month

By Leonard David published

Early next month, Rocket Lab is slated to launch a pathfinding cubesat mission that supports NASA's Artemis return-to-the moon program.