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Diamond Ring

Celestial Objects to Observe

Plan for the Next Total Solar Eclipse

Totality is addictive — once you've seen one total solar eclipse, you're hankering for the next one. Some exciting destinations are getting ready for their dances with darkness.

Gravitational Lensing: Einstein Ring

Cosmology

Best Test of General Relativity on Galaxy Scales

Astronomers have conducted the best, galaxy-scale test of general relativity yet, and it rules out some (but not all) theories of modified gravity.

Solar System

Mars Dust Storm Grows — Curiosity's Skies Darkening

The dust storm on Mars that broke out at the end of May is now affecting the skies across the entire planet.

This Week's Sky at a Glance logo

This Week's Sky At a Glance

This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 22 – 30

  Friday, June 22 • The waxing gibbous Moon this evening shines with bright Jupiter to its lower left and fainter Spica to its lower right. Saturday, June 23 • The bright "star" with the Moon tonight is Jupiter. Although they look rather close together, Jupiter is currently 1,800 times…

U.S. map of eclipse visibility on Jan 31, 2018

Celestial News & Events

Where to Watch the Lunar Eclipse Online

If you're not in the right place in the right time, you can still view Wednesday morning's total lunar eclipse online via several live streams. We list several options here.

Burnt orange beauty

Explore the Night with Bob King

Make the Most of January's Total Lunar Eclipse

An unusual dawn total lunar eclipse presents special challenges and great photo opportunities. Here's what you need to know to make the most of it.

kilopower

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

NASA Unveils New Power Source for Space Exploration

The Kilopower fission reactor will offer a more efficient and more powerful portable power source for solar system exploration.

Happy finders!

Explore the Night with Bob King

Michigan Meteorite Tally Multiplies

They look like leftover gravel from a freshly laid asphalt road, but the black stones that spattered across the snow in the wake of the January 16th Michigan fireball were anything but terrestrial. They belonged to a tiny asteroid on a recent foray to the outer asteroid belt but now…

Say

Celestial News & Events

Hunters Recover Meteorites From Michigan Fireball

A spectacular fireball seen by hundreds of people from Iowa to Ontario delivered precious samples from the asteroid belt to the lake country of southern Michigan Tuesday night.

Astrobiology

Some Plants Grow Well in Martian Soil

Astrobiology students cultivated leafy greens, sweet potatoes, and even hops in simulated Martian dirt.

Celestial News & Events

Fantastic Year for Geminid Meteor Shower

Mark the date: December 13th. That's the night the Geminid meteor shower peaks. Highlighted by the return of its parent asteroid 3200 Phaethon, this year's show promises to be one of the best ever.

Voyager 1

Space Missions

Voyager 1 Fires Dormant Thrusters

NASA engineers directed the historic spacecraft Voyager 1 to fire its backup thrusters for the first time in 37 years.

MUSE-Hubble Ultra Deep Field

Galaxies

A Deeper View of Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field

The iconic image of faraway galaxies, and one of the most-observed regions of space, has just received a spectroscopic upgrade.

55 Cancri e, artist's concept

Exoplanets

Atmosphere, Not Lava Flows, for Exoplanet 55 Cancri e

Previous studies of 55 Cancri e haven’t been able to determine whether this super-Earth hosts an atmosphere. A new study settles the question.

five black hole mergers

Cosmology

LIGO Sees Smallest Black Hole Binary Yet

LIGO has detected another black hole merger, raising the tally to five.

aspire wallops

Space Missions

NASA Completes Parachute Test for Mars 2020 Rover

A suborbital launch from Wallops Flight Facility tested a critical piece of landing hardware for the Mars 2020 rover.

Temperate exoplanet 11 light-years away

Exoplanets

Planet Orbits Quiet Star 11 Light-years Away

Astronomers have discovered a potentially rocky planet around a red dwarf star just 11 light-years away.

Distant visitor

Solar System

Update on `Oumuamua, Our First Interstellar Object

The arrival of an object from beyond the solar system caught astronomers by surprise — but that doesn't mean that they were unprepared to study it.

Tiangong-1

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

China's Tiangong 1 Space Station to Burn Up

Early next year, an international team will track the uncontrolled atmospheric reentry of Tiangong 1, China's first prototype space station.

Supernova art

Stellar Science

The Star That Wouldn’t Die

Observations of a stellar explosion that refused to fade away have astronomers scratching their heads. What created the blast — and could it explain massive black holes?