SUNSET: 
Tracing the Cigar Galaxy's Superwind
NASA’s SOFIA airborne observatory has returned a striking far-infrared view of the Cigar Galaxy and its “galactic superwind.”
Inflating a Super-Puff Planet
Super-puffy exoplanets are a problem. They shouldn’t exist — and yet we've detected half a dozen of them. Here's what theory might be getting wrong.
Tilted Exoplanets Could Explain Odd Orbits
Scientists think a significant fraction of exoplanets may be rolling on their sides. If they were, it would explain a longstanding mystery.
March 2019: Spot the Winter Hexagon
The Sky Tour astronomy podcast for March 2019 takes you on a guided tour of the predawn sky and then helps you find the dazzling stars that make the huge Winter Hexagon — including Sirius, the Dog Star.
Pluto and Charon Are Missing Small Craters
Scientists studying New Horizons images of craters on Pluto and its moon Charon have found that the Kuiper Belt must contain fewer small objects than expected — which suggests the outer solar system hasn’t changed much since its earliest days.
Teens Hunt for Meteorites . . . Underwater
Students and a sled named Starfall are on the hunt for underwater meteorites, dropped as a bolide fragmented over Lake Michigan last year.
The Beginning of the End for the Hyades Star Cluster
New measurements from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite show that the young stars of the Hyades cluster are beginning to drift apart.
Hayabusa 2 Touches Down, Collects Asteroid Sample
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 has touched down on Ryugu, the asteroid it's been orbiting since last summer, and collected a sample from its surface.
Radio Survey Maps Hundreds of Thousands of New Galaxies
The LOFAR survey, based in The Netherlands, has released a bonanza of new sources. And with only 2% of the sky covered so far, this is only the beginning.
Israeli Lunar Lander Heads to the Moon
Israel's Beresheet lunar lander was carried to space today on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, headed for a soft landing on the Moon in April.
Scientists Find Stellar Flare 10 Billion Times More Powerful Than Those on the Sun
Scientists have caught a powerful flare of submillimeter-wavelength radiation from a young star in the Orion Nebula.
Meet Hippocamp, Neptune's Smallest Moon
Although first recorded by Hubble in 2004, subsequent imagery shows that this tiny, innermost moon of Neptune likely had had a violent history.
NASA to Explore Early Universe, Origins of Life with SPHEREX
The SPHEREX mission will create multiple surveys of the near-infrared sky that will reveal the origins of life and perhaps the universe itself.
Dwarf Galaxy or Giant Globular Cluster?
AAS Nova brings us the story of a newly discovered cluster of stars. But the jury's out as to whether this group is a typical ancient stellar cluster or something more.
Listen Up: Get Gravitational-wave Alerts
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) will soon begin a new round of observations. Now you can find out about the discoveries as they happen.
Opportunity Reaches the End of Its Long Road
Despite months of listening, NASA has failed to pick up any signals from the stalwart Opportunity rover.
Will Sirius Disappear on February 18th?
On Monday night, February 18th, observers in the western U.S. and Mexico may see the occultation of a lifetime when a tiny asteroid momentarily blots out the night sky's brightest star.
New Study Pushes Back Milky Way’s Dust-up with Andromeda
By tracing stars in other galaxies, the Gaia satellite has helped astronomers understand the relative motions of the Milky Way's galactic siblings.
New Astro Camera Spots Thousands of Celestial Flare-ups
A vision from 70 years ago, the Zwicky Transient Facility has produced a wave of discoveries — but it’s only a hint of what’s to come.
Hubble Sets Its Sights on the Ice Giants
New Hubble Space Telescope images reveal an expanded polar cap on Uranus and another mysterious dark vortex on Neptune.
