SUNSET: 
The Ring Nebula's Most Detailed Images
New images from the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, combined with meticulous processing on the ground, reveal whole new depths to an object you've known forever.
A Bright Flash in the (Lunar) Night
If you'd been watching the Moon at just the right moment on March 17th, you might have seen a brief starlike flash created when a beachball-size rock slammed into the lunar surface.
Uranus & Neptune: Thin Weather Layers
The solar system's "ice giants" display surprisingly energetic weather patterns — and a new analysis suggests they're all confined to a very thin outer layer on each planet.
TWAN's Earth & Sky Contest Winners
From the city lights nestled between Alpine peaks to a single image that captures stars, an aurora, and a meteor, The World At Night's 2013 astrophoto contest is full of startling vistas.
Kepler Goes Down — and Probably Out
NASA's revolutionary planet-hunting spacecraft suffered malfunction this week that leaves it unable to point precisely at its target stars.
Digitizing Harvard’s Century of Sky
Harvard College Observatory is digitizing its famed collection of more than 500,000 glass sky-survey plates and has just released the first data set.
A Cosmic Sleight of Hand at Our Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole
Astronomers have been waiting for our galaxy’s slumbering supermassive black hole to stir for a snack. Instead, the universe handed them a different treat.
Australia's Ring of Fire Eclipse
For the second time in six months, the Sun has graced Down Under with an eclipse. Only a lucky few caught this annular eclipse, which traversed sparsely populated northern Australia.
Earth and Moon: Sharing a Drink
New analysis of Apollo samples shows that water trapped in eruptions from the Moon's interior have the same isotopic fingerprint as terrestrial water — a key confirmation that the Moon formed after something big hit Earth.
The Mysterious Seven
Seven clouds of hydrogen dotting the space between two iconic galaxies might be crumbs from a past encounter or evidence for the elusive cosmic web theorized to fuel galaxy growth.
Brilliant GRB Blast with an Amateur Twist
An exceptionally powerful gamma-ray burst on April 27th wowed astronomers around the world — and its fading was tracked by an alert backyard observer.
Lingering Echoes of Comet S-L 9's Demise
It's been nearly 19 years since fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into Jupiter. Recent observations show that water delivered by the comet still lingers in the planet's stratosphere.
Saturn is Making Waves
Just as it's coming closest to Earth, the big ringed planet is in the news in multiple ways — including the discovery of a long-lasting hurricane at its north pole.
The Eclipses of May 2013
May 2013 features an annular solar eclipse that's visible from extraordinarily little land area and a penumbral lunar eclipse that isn't visible at all.
Take a Stand Against Light Pollution!
"Globe at Night" is a fun, easy, and worthwhile activity for you and your family. Please join this worldwide campaign to measure the darkness of night skies everywhere from April 29th to May 8th.
Herschel Breathes Its Last
After nearly four years of successful observing, the largest infrared space telescope ever launched has run out of cryogenic coolant, permanently ending its science operations.
One Gap, No Planets
There's a big gap in the dusty disk around the young star V1247 Orionis. Such a gap should be carved out by one or more planets, but astronomers can't find any.
Tour May's Sky! | April 26th, 2013
Saturn rises in early evening and is visible throughout May. And a remarkable gathering of Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury sparkles low in the west toward month's end.
See Saturn at Its Best for 2013
With its rings tipped nicely into wide view, right now the ringed planet is its closest to Earth — making it a visual treat in telescopes of any size.
Weighing in on Einstein's Gravity
A massive neutron star and its lightweight sidekick provide a unique space laboratory to test general relativity. So far, gravity keeps behaving as it's supposed to.
