SUNSET: 
Seventh TRAPPIST-1 Planet Confirmed
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of the seventh planet around the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.
Enceladus: Hydrothermal Heating Confirmed
Astronomers have more evidence that the hidden ocean inside Saturn’s moon Enceladus is heated by hydrothermal activity.
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.
Stars Born in Galactic Wind
Astronomers have found newborn stars in gas pouring out of a galactic nucleus.
Active Black Hole Encourages Starbirth
Astronomers have discovered long filaments of cold gas — the ingredient for making stars — cocooning giant bubbles inflated by a black hole.
Scientists Find Organics on Ceres
The Dawn spacecraft has detected organic compounds on the dwarf planet Ceres.
Mystery Object in Cygnus A Galaxy
Astronomers have discovered an object in the active galaxy Cygnus A that wasn’t there before.
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.
What Makes a Planet Habitable?
In our March 2017 issue we included a diagram of all small, confirmed exoplanets in their stars’ habitable zones. Here’s the saga of how we decided which planets to put on that list.
Paired Stars in Cygnus En Route to Merger
Astronomers suspect that a binary star system in Cygnus is preparing to make one star of two, erupting in a red nova visible to the naked eye.
What’s Inside a Black Hole?
What’s inside a black hole? Wormholes? Alternate universes? If you fell into a black hole, only one thing’s for sure: its tidal forces would kill you.
Black Hole Facts
Learn what a black hole is, what we mean by “singularity” and “ergosphere,” and why we think black holes are real.
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.
MAVEN’s Mars: in Ultraviolet
NASA’s youngest Mars orbiter has watched clouds grow and detected an ozone accumulation on the Red Planet.
Active Space Missions in 2017
Sky & Telescope has put together a digest of active missions in 2017. We’ve included astrophysics, planetary, gravity, solar, space weather, and stellar projects.
Proxima Centauri Has Sun-Like Cycle
Observations confirm that the closest star to our solar system has a regular magnetic cycle similar to our Sun.
Daily Alert for Asteroid Flybys
A new e-digest from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center gives the public a head’s up on passing asteroids.
Why Galaxies Have Spiral Arms
Astronomers have found a unique trait of spiral arms that supports a longstanding idea about where these patterns come from.
Exoplanet Found Around Proxima Centauri
Astronomers have discovered a planet in the habitable zone of the closest star to the Sun.
