Outer Space

An illustration of our solar system's planets in a line. This week, six planets appeared to be in a line from Earth's perspective, but they did not acutally align in space.

Missed the 'Parade of Planets'? These Upcoming Alignments Will Likely Be Better, Anyway

Astronomers tempered expectations of the celestial event this week, pointing to others in the near future as more exciting opportunities for sky watchers

A computer-generated model of Sif Mons, a volcano on Venus. The new study found evidence of recent volcanic activity at Sif Mons and the Niobe Planitia region.

Venus Might Still Have Active Volcanoes, as Recent Lava Flows Suggest 'Ongoing' Eruptions

Astronomers have again discovered evidence of recent volcanic activity on Earth's sister planet in data from the 1990s

Euclid’s new image of star-forming region Messier 78, a nebula that lies in the constellation Orion.

See Five Dazzling New Images of the Cosmos, Captured by Europe's Space Telescope

With its visible and infrared photography, Euclid—known as the "dark universe detective"—is helping astronomers better understand dark matter and dark energy

An illustration of the sun's magnetic fields overlaid on an image of the sun captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in 2016.

Researchers Trace the Origin of the Sun's Magnetic Field, Shedding Light on Space Weather and Solar Cycles

In a new study, scientists suggest the sun's magnetic field originates much closer to the star's surface than previously thought, a finding that could boost predictions of solar activity

A composite image of Jupiter, taken by the Juno spacecraft

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Jupiter

The giant planet is a world of extremes

Ed Dwight celebrates after landing back on Earth following Sunday morning's ten-minute flight to space.

Ed Dwight, the First Black Astronaut Candidate in the U.S., Finally Travels to Space at 90 Years Old

The former Air Force pilot trained to become an astronaut in the 1960s but was never selected by NASA. On a Blue Origin flight Sunday, he became the oldest person to go to space

A bright green fireball is captured on camera over Cáceres, Spain, by the European Space Agancy. Officials say the object was a comet and likely broke up over the Atlantic Ocean.

Watch a Blue-Green Comet Illuminate Skies Over Spain and Portugal

The colorful fireball mesmerized onlookers—and its unexpected appearance surprised astronomers who are hoping to better predict when space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere

Where do we get the seeds for seedless fruit?

Where Do We Get Seeds for Seedless Fruit? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Bruce McCandless floats freely in space with Earth 170 miles beneath him.

The Inside Story of the First Untethered Spacewalk

On February 7, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless ventured out into space and away from shuttle Challenger using only a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled backpack

Ellen Ochoa was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House last week, becoming the tenth astronaut to receive the country's highest civilian honor.

Ellen Ochoa, Former NASA Astronaut and First Hispanic Woman in Space, Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

The former Johnson Space Center director logged four space shuttle flights and 1,000 hours in orbit over her 30-year career

An angled view of the solar system with main asteroid belt discoveries in green and near-Earth objects in light blue.

Scientists Discover 27,500 Asteroids in Old Telescope Images Using A.I.

While most of the team’s new finds are located in the main asteroid belt, about 100 are near-Earth asteroids that pass close to our planet's orbit

Scientists experimented with planting tomatoes, peas and carrots together and separately in several types of soil.

An Ancient Maya Practice Could Be the Key to Growing Vegetables on Mars

Researchers are exploring whether intercropping—a technique of growing different types of plants in close proximity to one another—could be the secret to agriculture on the Red Planet

A close-up of the "mane" of the Horsehead Nebula, located some 1,300 light-years from Earth. This view was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument.

See New Images of the Horsehead Nebula, Captured in Striking Detail by the James Webb Telescope

The beautiful infrared imagery features one of the best known locations in space to study the evolution of stars and interstellar matter

The Eta Aquarids appear to originate from a bright star in the constellation Aquarius.

How to Watch the Dazzling Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower, Bringing an Unusual 'Outburst' to Skies This Weekend

This year's spectacle will be more impressive than usual, as the Earth passes through a concentrated clump of 3,000-year-old comet debris

The Enterprise model had been missing for decades when it reappeared in an eBay listing last fall.

Original 'Star Trek' Enterprise Model Resurfaces Decades After It Went Missing

The model used in the original series' opening credits is now back with Eugene Roddenberry Jr., the son of the show's creator

Members of the Voyager 1 flight team celebrate after receiving health and status data from the spacecraft. Next, engineers need to enable the probe to start sending science data again.

Voyager 1 Sends Clear Data to NASA for the First Time in Five Months

The farthest spacecraft from Earth had been transmitting nonsense since November, but after an engineering tweak, it finally beamed back a report on its health and status

In an artist's rendering, a red giant star and white dwarf star circle each other. Material ejected from the red giant gathers and heats in the white dwarf, catalyzing a bright explosion.

A Rare Nova Explosion Will Soon Bring a 'New Star' to the Night Sky—How to Catch a Glimpse

In an event that occurs only once every 80 years, a distant remnant of a star will grow much brighter, briefly becoming visible to Earth

A close-up of the Dragon's Egg Nebula, with two mismatched stars inside.

A Stellar Collision Birthed the 'Dragon's Egg' Nebula, a Puzzling Structure in the Milky Way

The colorful cloud of gas and dust has a violent origin—and this explains the unusual traits of two massive stars within it, astronomers say

An artist's illustration of Gaia BH3 and its companion star's "wobbling" orbit.

Astronomers Discover a 'Sleeping Giant' Black Hole in Our Galaxy—the Second-Closest Known to Earth

Called Gaia BH3, the dormant black hole is 33 times more massive than the sun, making it the largest recorded stellar black hole in the Milky Way

This false-colored image of Mercury reflects the varying age and mineral composition of the surface.

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Mercury

Only two robotic missions have made it to the Swift Planet, but they were crucial for upending many false assumptions of that sun-scorched world

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