SUNSET: 
LADEE Skims the Moon Before Crash
NASA has a fully functioning spacecraft orbiting the Moon, all science goals completed, and a lunar eclipse coming up. It's a perfect opportunity to make some risky but potentially rewarding swoops within 2 miles of the lunar surface.
Brightest Mars in Six Years
Mars is making its nearest and brightest appearance in the night sky since the end of 2007.
A New Galactic Yardstick
Astronomers have developed a new method to measure distances to bright but faraway galaxies, a tool which will help better constrain the expansion rate of the universe.
The Subsurface Ocean of Enceladus
Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have provided further evidence that Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus harbors a liquid ocean under its surface.
Celebrate the Night Sky This Month
Join the world’s largest celebration of astronomy — Global Astronomy Month — throughout April.
Fooling with the Universe
This year’s April Fools' provides a wealth of alarming results. Catch up on all the scientific shenanigans here.
Tour April's Sky: One Last Look at Winter's Stars
It's a great month, celestially speaking: the brilliant stars of winter crowd in the southwest at nightfall, Jupiter is joined by Mars, and the first total lunar eclipse in 2½ years occurs at mid-month.
Dust in the Heart of Circinus
Infrared observations of the Circinus Galaxy may help reveal the shape of the dusty region fueling its active galactic nucleus and shed light on what governs dust structures in other galaxies.
Rosetta Spots Its Comet
The European Space Agency’s comet-chasing spacecraft has imaged its destination for the first time since waking up from 957 days of hibernation.
Global "Fail" for the Big Regulus Cover-up
There was widespread hope that thousands of skywatchers would see the bright star Regulus briefly occulted by an asteroid early on March 20th. In the end, likely <u>no one</u> saw it. Here's why.
Chariklo: An Asteroid with Rings
An international team of observers has made the surprising discovery that a distant asteroid has two distinct, dense rings.
New Object Offers Hint of "Planet X"
Astronomers have kicked around the idea of a distant "Planet X" for decades. But the recent discovery of 2012 VP<sub>113</sub>, located in an orbital "no man's land" roughly twice as far away as Pluto, has stoked the possibility that it really exists.
Dark Matter Spotted in the Milky Way?
A team of astronomers claim to have the most compelling case for annihilating dark matter yet.
Active Volcanoes on Venus?
New images of Venus show features that look like hot spots, hinting there may be active volcanoes on the planet today.
Interactive Mosaic of Moon's North Pole
With the first interactive lunar north pole mosaic released by the NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team you can explore an area of the Moon’s northern hemisphere about the size of Alaska and Texas combined.
The Incredible, Shrinking Mercury
Now that they've seen all of the innermost planet up close, geologists realize that Mercury's crust buckled and fractured as the planet cooled and shrank far more than previously measured.
Young Stars Lead the Magellanic Stream
Astronomers have discovered hot, young stars in the Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream, calling the history of the Magellanic Clouds once again into question.
Direct Evidence of Big Bang Inflation
Researchers with an experiment based at the South Pole have discovered the long-sought "smoking gun" for inflation. The signal was hidden in polarization patterns in the cosmic microwave background and confirms physicists' audacious theory of how the Big Bang happened.
"Proof of Inflationary Universe" to be Announced
Rumors are flying that the long-sought "smoking gun" for inflation has been found in polarization patterns in the cosmic microwave background. If so, it would confirm the inflation theory for how and why the Big Bang happened.
Planets Form With Magnetic Storms
Astronomers might have solved an outstanding mystery of why forming planetary systems emit more infrared light than expected. The key lies with gas and dust suspended in giant magnetic loops.
