SUNSET: 
The Most Massive Star
A luminous blue variable star located some 45,000 light-years away could be the most massive and perhaps the most luminous star ever discovered.
One Small Step for Spirit, One Giant Leap for Mankind
NASA's Mars rover is ready to begin exploring the red planet's surface.
Finding Our Nearest Stellar Neighbors
Astronomers are trying to hunt out everything that exists within 32 light-years of Earth.
Spirit Finds Carbonates, Prepares to Rove
This near-true-color scene is part of the 360° panorama taken by Spirit's Pancam. The full image is a mosaic of 225 images taken through three color filters, painstakingly assembled by more than 25 scientists and engineers. It is 75 frames across and three frames tall; for larger views of the…
Comet Catcher
The nucleus of Comet Wild 2, with an average diameter of about 5 kilometers, is imaged by Stardust’s navigation camera from a distance of approximately 500 kilometers. The spacecraft captured 72 images of the comet's nucleus during the encounter, with an anticipated peak resolution of about 30 meters.Courtesy NASA/JPL. On…
Footprint of a Magnetic Exoplanet
Astronomers have found the first extrasolar planet with a magnetic field.
Diving Globular Cluster Makes a Starry Splash
Did a globular star cluster passing through the Milky Way cause new stars to form?
More Galaxies that Jump the Gun
Astronomers have found a distant string of galaxies that took shape earlier than current cosmology can explain.
The Sun's Closest Twins
Astronomers hope to learn much from our Sun's doppelgangers.
Explaining Supernova Explosions
Astronomers are one step closer to understanding how white dwarfs blow themselves up.
Astro News Briefs: December 29–January 4
Mars Express gets into position and NASA samples a comet.
A Galactic Striptease
Astronomers have caught the spiral galaxy C153 performing an involuntary striptease act as it plunges through the heart of a massive galaxy cluster.
Dissecting a Microquasar
Astronomers are still trying to identify what powers a mysterious star system in Aquila.
Astro Image in the News:
A Taste of Things To Come
Spirit has taken the highest-resolution picture of Mars ever.
Moon Occults Mars
During the predawn hours of Thursday, July 17th, the waning gibbous Moon will cover Mars for skywatchers in southeastern Florida, the Caribbean, and parts of Central and South America.
Old Galaxies in the Young Universe
A survey of galaxies has found that not all star systems in the early universe were small.
Plotting Spirit's Course
NASA scientists are gathering vital information about Spirit's, surroundings before taking the Mars rover out for its first drive.
A Christmas Comet
Comet Kudo-Fujikawa is seen here in this CCD image taken on December 15, 2002 from Las Cruces, NM, about a day after its discovery.Courtesy Bert and Janet Stevens. Early on the morning of December 14, 2002, Japanese amateur Tetuo Kudo was searching the skies with his giant 20 x 120…
Astro News Briefs: December 15–21
Quadrantid meteor source found and new ways to teach astronomy.
A Naked-Eye Spot Returns
The immense sunspot group that on November 4th ejected the largest solar flare ever recorded has rotated around the Sun and is back for a second pass across the Earth-facing side of the solar disk.
