SUNSET: 
Akatsuki Spies Massive Wave on Venus
Japan's Venus orbiter has witnessed a huge atmospheric wave that spans the globe.
When and How Did the Moon Form?
New studies offer contrasting scenarios for making the Moon. One argues for a one big splat early in solar-system history; a second envisions a score of lesser blows that built up the Moon over time; and a third suggests water was involved.
The Spotless Sun
The Sun has been unusually quiet lately. Since the start of 2017, only a single tiny sunspot has made a brief appearance on the solar disk.
Voyagers Flying Through Galactic Clouds
Astronomers have combined data from the Voyager spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope to probe the stuff between the stars.
Top 12 Astronomy News Stories of 2016
From the discovery of gravitational waves to the building evidence that a massive planet could exist beyond Pluto, it has been a thrilling year for astronomy research. We recap.
Sky & Telescope's Pluto Globe is Here!
This beautifully detailed 6-inch globe lets you explore the amazing geology revealed by New Horizons during its historic 2015 flyby.
Dawn Result: Water is Everywhere on Ceres
New results from NASA's Dawn orbiter show that the largest asteroid (and acknowledged dwarf planet) must possess a global layer of water ice that lies just below its dark, dusty surface.
Curiosity Tracks Mars’s Ancient Habitability
Curiosity scientists have tracked Gale Crater’s changing environment as it became more, then less, acidic over millions of years. Microbial life could have survived in these conditions.
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Gets to Work
Welcome to Mars: the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter sets up shop around the Red Planet.
Amazing Views of Saturn's "Polar Hexagon"
NASA's Cassini spacecraft delivers stunning views from its new orbital perch.
A Basketball-Player-Sized Asteroid
Planetary scientists have pinpointed the size of a near-Earth asteroid to be a mere 2 meters, one of the smallest ever characterized.
The Beginning of the End for Cassini
Cassini's final main engine burn this weekend sets up the first act of a grand finale.
Orbital Path Podcast: In Search of Planet 9
Astronomers are debating the existence of a big planet beyond the orbits of Pluto and Neptune. Dr. Michelle Thaller talks with planetary scientists Scott Shepard and Mike Brown about when we'll discover it.
Clarendon (c): Meteorite Find of a Lifetime
Dug out of a Texas field last year, the second-largest chondrite ever found in the U.S. has been donated to Texas Christian University.
Sputnik Planitia Made Pluto's "Heart" Wander
A big, nitrogen-ice-filled basin has apparently caused Pluto's entire crust to shift over time.
Curiosity Finds "Egg Rock" Iron Meteorite
NASA's intrepid Mars rover gets a close-up view of a bizarrely shaped space rock that landed on the lower slope of Mount Sharp.
Near-Earth Asteroid Tally Reaches 15,000
Thanks to two aggressive search programs, the count of near-Earth asteroids has soared past the 15,000-object milestone. (None of them are likely to hit us.)
Jupiter Returns with a Stormy Surprise
The gas giant is emerging in the glow of dawn sporting an tumultuous North Temperate Belt.
Is This Schiaparelli's Crash Site on Mars?
A pair of high-resolution images taken from high above Mars appears to show the impact site of ESA's Schiaparelli lander.
Big Kuiper Object 2007 OR10 Has a Moon
Hubble images reveal a satellite orbiting one of the Kuiper Belt's biggest objects.
