SUNSET: 
LISA Pathfinder: From Gravitational Waves to Space Dust
LISA Pathfinder, the technology testbed mission for a future gravitational-wave detector, turns out to be a surprisingly good micrometeoroid hunter.
Sun Triggers Ceres’ Fleeting Atmosphere
Planetary scientists think the Sun may inadvertently create a transitory, tenuous atmosphere around the dwarf planet Ceres — and in an unexpected way.
Mars Lost Atmosphere to Space
NASA’s MAVEN mission has confirmed that the solar wind stripped the Red Planet of its atmosphere.
Bright Mound on Ceres Due to Briny Eruptions?
The strange bright deposits inside Occator crater on Ceres are probably from cryovolcanic eruptions that are much younger than the crater itself.
SpaceX Announces 2018 Moonshot Mission
SpaceX's surprise announcement envisions humans traveling beyond low-Earth orbit and to the Moon at the end of 2018.
Scientists Find Organics on Ceres
The Dawn spacecraft has detected organic compounds on the dwarf planet Ceres.
NASA Narrows Down Mars 2020 Rover Landing Sites
Three possible landing sites are now in the running for the U.S. space agency's next Mars rover.
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.
NASA's Lucy & Psyche Asteroid Missions
Last week, NASA announced two new missions set to explore the earliest remnants of the solar system: asteroid 16 Psyche and Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
1,000 Black Holes in Deepest-Ever X-ray Image
The Chandra X-ray Observatory has gazed at a small patch of sky for almost 12 weeks, revealing 1,008 X-ray-emitting sources — most of them supermassive black holes.
Looking Ahead: Space Exploration in 2017
An exciting year lies ahead for spaceflight involving astronomy and planetary science — by NASA and by other spacefaring nations.
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.
Watch Resupply Mission Chase Down the International Space Station
Find out how to see a cargo mission headed to the International Space Station this weekend.
Amazing Views of Saturn's "Polar Hexagon"
NASA's Cassini spacecraft delivers stunning views from its new orbital perch.
The Beginning of the End for Cassini
Cassini's final main engine burn this weekend sets up the first act of a grand finale.
