701–720 of 1,389 results
Earth and Moon

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Chang'e 4 Probe Heads to the Lunar Farside

China's latest lunar mission will drop a lander and rover in one of the oldest terrains on the Moon, becoming the first craft to intentionally land on and explore the farside.

Mars does do-si-do with Neptune

Explore the Night with Bob King

Mars and Neptune Have a Close Shave

Want to find Neptune the easy way? Just point your binoculars or telescope at Mars the next few nights, when the two planets will be in close conjunction.

Diamond in the sky

Explore the Night with Bob King

SpaceX Launches Orbiting "Sculpture in the Sky" / Comet Update

An art sculpture achieves orbit, 46P/Wirtanen becomes a naked-eye comet, and C/2018 V1 makes one last good pass.

Bennu

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Osiris-REX Arrives at Asteroid Bennu

NASA's ambitious Osiris-REX mission will now spend the next couple years surveying Bennu before attempting to return a sample to Earth.

Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon

Clouds: A Nebulous Existence

In David Grinspoon's latest column, he discusses how, for both Venus and Earth, life's last refuge might lie in the clouds.

Explore the Night with Bob King

Supernova Discovered in the Bright Galaxy M77

A new supernova in the bright galaxy M77 in Cetus is within range of amateur telescopes. Here's how to find it.

A star goes poof!

Explore the Night with Bob King

Seeking Cas A, the Ghostly Remains of a Mysterious Supernova

We still don't know for sure if anyone saw the supernova explosion in Cassiopeia around 1680, but there's no question we can observe what remains of it today.

Mars Insight

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Insight Lander Touches Down on Mars

After a safe landing, NASA's first dedicated geophysical mission to Mars will spend the next two years studying the deep interior of the Red Planet. 

Extra helping

Explore the Night with Bob King

Gobble Up a Rare Thanksgiving Full Moon

This week, we give thanks for all the good things in life including a rare event — a full Moon on Thanksgiving. Make it your dessert after the big meal.

jezero crater

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Jezero Crater Selected as Landing Site for Mars 2020 Rover

NASA's next Mars rover will explore a geologically diverse crater that may once have been flooded with water, a crucial ingredient for the mission's search for evidence of past life.

A Colorful problem

Explore the Night with Bob King

Ducks in Disguise or How Stars Hide Their True Colors

Do star clusters form all at once or over several generations? A team of astronomers finds an answer among the spinning stars of an amateur favorite, the Wild Duck Cluster. 

Explore the Night with Bob King

Exoplanets for Autumn Evenings

Exoplanets pepper the night sky. We may not be able to observe them directly, but we can use their host stars as surrogates to envision them in our mind's eye.

Magnified

Imaging Foundations with Richard Wright

What Magnification Is That?

Telesope magnification is much more complex than it might seem at first glance.

Explore the Night with Bob King

Amateur Don Machholz Discovers His 12th Comet! (Updated)

Arizona comet hunter Don Machholz did it again! He discovered his 12th comet only two mornings ago. Set your alarm, grab your scope, and take a look.

Explore the Night with Bob King

Three Upcoming Sky Events We Can All Share

Comets, meteors, and Moon: Share the night sights that are coming our way!

hotspot near event horizon

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Gas Seen Moving Near the Event Horizon

Astronomers have detected three flares from near our galaxy’s central black hole that look like gas closely orbiting the unseen object.

Cygnus A in radio

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Odd Jets Might Signal Dual Black Holes

Off-kilter, curved, and otherwise unusual beams of plasma from galaxies’ cores might track the dueling dances of two supermassive black holes.

Dawn at Ceres

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Dusk for Dawn: NASA's Groundbreaking Mission Comes to an End

After 11 Years, NASA's Dawn mission to explore Vesta and Ceres is about to come to an end.

Kepler Art

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

The Kepler Space Telescope Comes to an End

NASA's planet-hunting telescope has run out of fuel after a nine-year mission that found more than 2,600 planets orbiting other stars along with thousands more worlds yet to be confirmed.

Explore the Night with Bob King

Trick-or-Treat with the Seven White Dwarfs

In the Halloween spirit, we pay a visit to the cosmic dead, those tiny stars that should just fade away but always seem to be causing trouble instead.