SUNSET: 
The Incredible, Shrinking Mercury
Now that they've seen all of the innermost planet up close, geologists realize that Mercury's crust buckled and fractured as the planet cooled and shrank far more than previously measured.
Satellite Lost and Found in Space
SkyCube, a crowd-funded nanosatellite built to engage the public in space exploration, has been deployed from the International Space Station. Now its creators are anxiously waiting to establish two-way contact.
A Meteorite Lights up the Lunar Night
Astronomers have witnessed the largest lunar impact to date. With an impact energy equivalent to 15 tons of TNT — approximately 3 times as great as the previous record-holder — the flash was visible even to the naked-eye.
Pesky Problems for Lunar Reflectors
For more than 40 years, astronomers have been firing lasers at specially-designed reflectors left on the lunar surface. But over time they've gotten dusty — and especially finicky whenever there's a full Moon.
Curiosity Navigates the Crossroads
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory — Curiosity — has successfully crossed a sand dune standing between the rover and its final science destination.
New Splat on Mars
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera captured this stunning image of a fresh impact on the Martian surface.
Shedding Light on Circumbinary Systems
Astronomers are beginning to understand the unlikely formation and dangerous survival of exoplanets circling binary stars.
First Mercury Globe Now Available
Sky & Telescope announces the first-ever globe of Mercury, pieced together from the latest images taken by the Messenger spacecraft. It's now available on our online store!
Sleep of Death for China's Lunar Rover?
Reports suggest that something went wrong as the Yutu rover prepared to hibernate through the long lunar night. The glitch could be the end of the little robot.
Opportunity's 10-year Martian Marathon
Can you believe it? A robotic rover designed to last 90 days on the Red Planet is celebrating 10 years of successful exploration on the Red Planet — even taking a "selfie" for its handlers back on Earth.
"Dwarf Planet" Ceres Exhales Water
There'll be a new wrinkle facing NASA's Dawn spacecraft when it reaches Ceres next year: what's causing this big round ball to give off puffs of water vapor?
The End of Rosetta's Big Sleep
Europe's comet-chasing spacecraft woke up after a 957-day-long hibernation to begin the most comprehensive comet study to date. Part of its mission: attempt to place an instrumented lander on a comet’s nucleus for the first time.
Gaia Launches to Pinpoint a Billion Stars
Gaia launched flawlessly Thursday morning at 9:12 UTC (4:12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time). This long-awaited mission will precisely map the distances and motions of 1 billion stars in our galaxy.
Chang'e 3 Brings Rover to Lunar Surface
For the first time since 1976, a spacecraft has landed safely on the Moon. Within hours, the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 3 had deployed an instrumented rover.
Curiosity Finds a Once-Habitable Mars
Ancient Mars seems to have had all the necessities as a comfy habitat for microbial life.
China Launches Lunar Mission
If all goes well, on December 14th the Moon will host its first soft-landing spacecraft since 1976.
Comet ISON Becomes a Nail-Biter
Is the comet dying, just three days before its closest pass by the Sun? There are signs that its nucleus has stopped producing anything.
MAVEN Heads to Mars
NASA's next orbiter has successfully launched and is en route to the Red Planet. When it arrives, it will pry into the secrets of Mars's climate, both past and present, and hopefully reveal how the cold, dry world lost most of its ancient atmosphere.
Kepler Mission Hits 3,500 Candidates
The Kepler team has released its analysis of the mission’s first three years of observations. The haul includes 10 Earth-size (and probably rocky) exoplanets in their stars’ habitable zones, and the stats show such planets are common.
Indian Mars Mission Launches
India's first mission to the Red Planet launched successfully November 5th from a barrier island off the country's coastline. The mission will study Mars's atmosphere and surface and is an important milestone for the country's space agency.
