Fisheye Meteor Shower

Imaging Foundations with Richard Wright

Catch A Shooting Star (with Your Camera)

Catching a falling star is easier than you think . . . when you use a camera!

Comet NEOWISE

Explore the Night with Bob King

Comet NEOWISE Delights at Dawn

Skywatchers are treated to a naked-eye comet as NEOWISE emerges into the the dawn sky.

Clyde's Spot

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Amateur Astronomer Discovers "Clyde's Spot" on Jupiter

The discovery of a new feature on Jupiter gave NASA’s Juno mission an opportunity to image an emerging storm up close.

M85 supernova

Explore the Night with Bob King

Two Bright Supernovae Light Up Nearby Galaxies

Two bright new supernovae — 2020nlb in M85 and 2020nvb in NGC 4457 — are now within the range of amateur telescopes in the western sky at nightfall.

Lemmon in bloom

Explore the Night with Bob King

Anticipation Grows for Comets NEOWISE and Lemmon

Two comets spark excitement for the coming week — NEOWISE might reach naked-eye visibility at dawn, while Lemmon will be visible in binoculars at dusk.

NICER mounted on the International Space Station

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

NASA to Use Pulsar Navigation for Deep Space Missions

NICER and SEXTANT demonstrate XNAV pulsar navigation system that may be used on Artemis.

black hole binary in AGN disk

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Black Hole Collision May Have Caused Burst of Light

Astronomers think they’ve detected a flash created by the merger of two black holes.

visualization of GW190814 gravitational-wave event

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Gravitational Wave Detectors Find Mystery “Mass Gap” Object

Astronomers have caught a black hole colliding with a mysterious companion that might be either one of the most massive neutron stars or the smallest black hole ever detected.

Noctilucent clouds in British Columbia

Explore the Night with Bob King

Nights of Noctilucent Clouds

Noctilucent clouds shimmer high in the sky during summer twilight at northerly latitudes.

Imaging the Moon

Imaging Foundations with Richard Wright

Astrophotography: Picking Your Pixels

The drive for smaller pixels comes from wanting more resolution. But in astrophotography, bigger pixels capture more light.

InSight

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Mars "Mole" Is in the Ground (Again)

After months of careful work, NASA's Insight mission has its mole burrowed in the Martian soil.

supermassive black hole with accretion disk

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Black Holes Grow by Gas, Not Mergers, Most of Their Lives

Calculations suggest how black holes have amassed mass and predict what the black holes’ spins should be if this picture is correct.

Ring Nebula

Explore the Night with Bob King

Evenings with the Ring Nebula

Everyone loves this cosmic donut. Like Saturn, the Ring Nebula is a must-see for beginners and seasoned amateurs alike. Whether you're just cutting your deep-sky teeth or attempting to see its central star — one of visual astronomy's Holy Grails — the Ring has it all.

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

NASA, SpaceX Launch Historic Mission to International Space Station

Crewed spaceflight returns to U.S. soil, with the successful launch of Crew Dragon Demo 2.

Comet SWAN heads north

Explore the Night with Bob King

Comet SWAN's Final Song

Despite early expectations Comet SWAN appears to be fizzling, providing yet another opportunity to appreciate what makes these objects so unique.

Roman Space Telescope

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

NASA Renames WFIRST: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

NASA is renaming its next flagship space observatory to honor pioneering NASA astronomer and "Mother of Hubble," Nancy Grace Roman.

Whirlpool Galaxy

Explore the Night with Bob King

See Spring's Finest Spiral Galaxies

Spring skies offer some of the best sights of spiral galaxies. Point your scope at some of these magnificent cosmic whirlpools.

a half circle of a blue planet with white clouds

Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon

Venus Is Dead. Long Live Venus.

In which I attempt a contrarian argument against my own contrarian argument.

Imaging Foundations with Richard Wright

Backyard Projects for At-home Astrophotographers

Can’t get to your favorite dark sky site? Do not despair, a great many targets and techniques are still available to the backyard imager.

Eclipse mosaic

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Medieval "Dark Eclipse" Helps Date Ice Cores — and Time Volcanic Eruptions

Scientists have used a famous "dark eclipse" of the Moon to help date ice cores collected in Greenland and the Antarctic.