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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
