SUNSET: 
Hayabusa Arrives at Asteroid Itokawa
After a 27-month interplanetary cruise under ion power, Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft finally reaches the small asteroid that will be its home for three months.
Methane on Mars
Does Mars have life? Recent spectroscopic observations of the Red Planet have found methane, a gas that is predominantly produced by organisms on Earth. This image, which is centered on Valles Marineris, is a mosaic of pictures from NASA's Viking 1 orbiter. Courtesy NASA / USGS. Mars keeps surprising the…
Deep Impact Revisited
This highly processed image of Comet Tempel 1 shows the initial debris after the spacecraft's impactor collided with the nucleus. The ejected dust shrouded the mothership's view of the resulting impact crater.Courtesy NASA / JPL / Caltech / University of Maryland. It has been two months since the Deep Impact…
Massive Star in the Making
A recently completed radio-telescope array has found tantalizing evidence that nature makes big stars and little ones the same way.
Spirit Samples Husband Hill
This small section of Spirit's 'Independence Panorama' includes images taken from July 6th to 13th, when the rover was positioned about 100 meters (330 feet) from the summit of Husband Hill.Courtesy NASA / JPL / Caltech / Cornell University. For much of its nearly two-year mission, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover…
The Missing Martian Carbonates
Not a pebble of limestone or other carbonate rock has turned up on Mars, despite loads of water and carbon dioxide on the planet in its history. A NASA reesearcher thinks he knows why.
Supernova Champ Makes 40th Find
Australia's Robert O. Evans has bagged his 40th visual supernova discovery, in the galaxy NGC 1559.
Spirit Gets High on Mars
Nothing is more satisfying after a climb than a hard-earned view from the top — Spirit has finally reached the summit of Husband Hill.
Venus and Jupiter Kiss in Twilight
This evening brings the much-awaited conjunction of the two brightest planets low in the west-southwest.
Astro Image in the News:
Dragon in the Sky
Courtesy Gemini Observatory. Famous nebulae such as the North America (NGC 7000) and Swan (M17) nebulae look more or less like the objects they are named after. In keeping with that tradition, astronomers might consider assigning the moniker "the Dragon Nebula" to NGC 6559 in Sagittarius. As shown in this…
Supernova in M51
A 14th-magnitude supernova is shining near the nucleus of the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, after being discovered by an amateur astronomer on June 28, 2005.
Astro News Briefs: August 15–21
American Association of Variable Star Observers's fall meeting
Seeing the Milky Way Take Shape
Our galaxy has been redrawn to include a galactic bar that is longer and thinner than previously thought.
Perseids 2005: A First Report
Despite only average rates, this year's shower brought an unusual proportion of bright meteors.
Astro News Briefs: August 8–14
NASA's next Mars mission and the "10th planet's" size might grow more.
The Whirlpool's Supernova Surprises
German amateur astronomers Werner Klug and Hermann von Eiff captured SN 2005cs (arrowed) on July 9th, a little more than a week after its discovery. The supernova flared in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51).Courtesy Werner Klug and Hermann von Eiff. On June 28th, German amateur Wolfgang Kloehr discovered a 14th-magnitude supernova…
Proto-Sunshine at Work
Sulfur compounds in ancient meteorites hold clues to our solar system's fiery birth.
Table Mountain Star Party: 25 Years and Going Strong
Some 700 amateur astronomers from around the world enjoyed a solid week of blue-sky days and starlight nights at this year's Table Mountain Star Party.
An Asteroid with Two Moons
An artist depicts 87 Sylvia and its two known moons. The main-belt asteroid is the first minor planet known to possess two satellites. The exact shapes of the three bodies are unknown, but 87 Sylvia is elongated.Courtesy European Southern Observatory. When NASA's Galileo spacecraft flew by the asteroid 243 Ida…
