2041–2060 of 6,715 results
Mars Mole

Solar System

Work to Save NASA's "Mole" on Mars Continues

NASA engineers hope to use the scoop at the end of the lander's robotic arm to get the Insight lander's heat probe burrowing once again.

Cosmic web filaments

Cosmology

Best Image Yet of the Cosmic Web

Using the light cast by galaxies bursting with new stars, astronomers have mapped out a piece of the cosmic web 12 billion light-years from Earth.

Celestial News & Events

International Observe the Moon Night 2019

Observe the first-quarter Moon on October 5 for International Observe the Moon Night. Here's a guide to tell you what to look for.

Fast radio burst as probe of a galaxy halo

Galaxies

Exotic Messenger Probes a Galaxy’s Outer Reaches

Astronomers made use of a fast radio burst, a 40-microsecond flash at radio wavelengths, to evaluate the state of the nearly undetectable gas around an intervening galaxy.

Night Sky Sights

Treasure Hunting in the Hall of the Deep-Sky King

Cepheus, the King, has hidden his treasure well but not so much that curious amateurs can't find more than enough to stuff their pockets.

Moon-Jupiter-Saturn Oct 2-5 300px

Celestial News & Events

October 2019: Giant Planets & Bits of Comet

This month's Sky Tour let's you enjoy close pairings of the Moon with Jupiter and Saturn; explore interesting stars and constellations, and keep watch for blazing bits of Halley's Comet.

Exoplanets

Two Eyes to Hunt Stray Planet Masses

How can we measure the masses of free-floating planets wandering around our galaxy? A new study identifies one approach that combines the power of two upcoming missions.

tidal disruption event

Black Holes

Exoplanet Hunter Sees a Black Hole-Shredded Star

NASA's TESS exoplanet-hunting satellite has provided astronomers with a front-row seat as a black hole shreds a close-venturing star.

Black Holes

Video: Black Hole Warps Light

The hypnotizing effect of a black hole on its surroundings appears to dramatic effect in this simulation.

Boyajian's Star (art)

Stellar Science

Are There More Stars Like Boyajian’s Star?

Remember KIC 8462852, better known as Boyajian’s star (or you may have seen it referred to as the “alien megastructure” star)? We still don’t have a definitive explanation for this source’s odd behavior — in part because we thought that Boyajian’s star was one-of-a-kind.

Venus in false-color

Solar System

The Clouds of Venus Puzzle Scientists

Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft has revealed some previously unknown dynamics in the Venusian atmosphere, but their origin is far from clear.

Dust devil on Earth

Solar System

Video: Chasing Dust Devils

Scientists are flying instrument-laden drones through whirlwinds on Earth to better understand their counterparts on other worlds in the solar system.

Loki Patera

Solar System

When Will This Trickster Volcano Erupt?

Loki, a faraway volcanic feature on Jupiter’s moon Io, is acting up and planetary scientists want to know why.

Interstellar Comet Borisov

Celestial News & Events

Will Amateurs Be Able to See the New Interstellar Comet?

Only the second object thus far to visit the solar system from interstellar space, Comet Borisov is expected to reach perihelion in December. What can we see now?

Capstone

Space Missions

CubeSat to Blaze a Trail for Lunar Gateway

NASA's proposed Capstone mission could enter lunar orbit in late 2020.

Annular eclipse path December 26, 2019

Celestial News & Events

100 Days Until Christmas “Ring of Fire” Eclipse

Here’s everything you need to know about the annular solar eclipse that will cross over much of Asia on December 26, 2019.

Illustration of black holes merging

Black Holes

60-Second Astro News: Black Hole Hubbub

The Milky Way's black hole' flares unexpectedly, a distant black hole gets the hiccups, and a reanalysis of LIGO data shows the first detection of black hole "ringdown."

Exoplanets

Milestone: Astronomers Discover Water Vapor on a Super-Earth

Two independent teams of astronomers have discovered the signature of water vapor in the atmosphere of super-Earth K2-18b.

Celestial News & Events

Another Interstellar Visitor Is Headed Our Way

An amateur astronomer has discovered a comet that might be the second interstellar visitor after 'Oumuamua — and it's heading for its closest approach to the Sun late this year.

Saturn's Rings

Solar System

Planetary History Written in Saturn’s Rings

Saturn is subtly pulsing and oscillating — and those oscillations impose a pattern on its rings that could tell us about the planet’s history.