SUNSET: 
India's Mars Orbiter Mission Arrives Safely
It's a historic day for India's maturing space program, as its first-ever interplanetary explorer successfully slipped into orbit around the Red Planet.
The 2014 Autumnal Equinox Arrives
Astronomically speaking, the fall season comes to the Northern Hemisphere on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 02:29 UTC (Monday, September 22 at 10:29 p.m. EDT). At that moment, the Sun passes over the Earth’s equator heading south; this event is called the autumnal equinox.
MAVEN Makes It to Mars
On September 21st, after a 33-minute-long rocket firing, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft slipped into orbit around the Red Planet.
Small Galaxy Boasts Big Black Hole
Astronomers have detected a supermassive black hole in the center of a tiny galaxy — where it has no right to be.
Calling All Amateur Astronomers
NASA’s Night Sky Network is conducting a new survey in order to better help the amateur astronomy community.
Where Will Philae Land on Comet 67P?
European space officials have decided to drop their Philae lander on November 11th onto the small end of the already-active Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Success is hardly assured.
Curiosity Readies To Climb "Mount Sharp"
Now two years into its exploration of Mars, NASA's big rover has reached the base of the huge mound that scientists hope will reveal the Red Planet's history.
Potent Solar Flare — Auroras Tonight?
On Wednesday, a powerful X-class flare ripped through the Sun's lower atmosphere and sent a blast wave directly toward Earth that should arrive Friday and produce moderate-to-strong auroras over the weekend.
The Quasar Main Sequence
A new diagram might link the diverse visible-light characteristics of quasars to two physical properties — essentially, their accretion rate and orientation. If the analysis holds up, it could point the way toward a long-sought unification.
Meet My Variable Friend SS Cygni
Get acquainted with SS Cygni, the sky's brightest cataclysmic variable star. It's guaranteed to keep you on your toes.
Next-Gen Adaptive Optics
The Subaru Telescope has donned a new pair of glasses called Raven, a multi-object adaptive optics system that enables astronomers to correct for atmospheric turbulence over an unprecedented field of view.
A Worldwide Night of Moonwatching
International Observe the Moon Night is an event that encourages people to "look up" and enjoy our nearest neighbor. This year's InOMN is Saturday, September 6th. Here's a quiz: What astronomical object looks amazing no matter what the magnification, never looks exactly the same no matter how often you view…
Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster
Astronomers have mapped the cosmic watershed and discovered a massive supercluster that extends more than 500 million light-years and contains 100,000 large galaxies. The Milky Way sits on the edge of this humongous structure.
See Saturn's Moon Rhea Hide a Star
Watch as the moon Rhea steals a star from the sky for nearly a minute on September 12th.
Do Exoplanets Transform Between Classes?
A new analysis suggests that hot super-Earths might be the skeletal remnants of hot Jupiters stripped of their atmospheres.
Tour September's Sky: Farewell to Saturn
The astronomical calendar says autumn arrives on September 22nd. It's a season of transition, with plenty of celestial comings and goings in the evening sky. September’s equinox takes place on the 22nd at 10:29 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. At that moment the Sun shines directly overhead as seen from the…
Building Big Elliptical Galaxies’ Cores
Astronomers are tracking down the seeds that likely grew to become today’s most massive elliptical galaxies.
Resolving the Pleiades Distance Problem
A new measurement, made using radio interferometry, argues that the distance to the Pleiades star cluster measured by ESA's Hipparcos satellite really is wrong — and that ground-based astronomers had it right all along.
Earthshine, the Moon's Darker Side
Explore the Moon's dark side with the aid of earthshine.
Voyager 2 at Neptune: A Silver Anniversary
On August 25, 1989, a NASA spacecraft made its fourth and final planetary encounter. What it revealed 25 years ago about the Neptunian system is still amazing and still profound.
