ASTRONOMY

Kartik Ramanathan, Flickr // CC BY-NC-NC 2.0

The Best Meteor Shower of the Year Starts Wednesday Night

Some 100 meteors an hour will blaze across the sky tomorrow night. It's going to be the best show in five years.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/IRAP/U. Nantes/IAS/MSSS

Rover Discovers 'Earth-Like' Crust on Mars

A recent study published in Nature Geoscience details the presence of a potential “continental crust” on Mars.

What Scientists Have Discovered About Pluto (So Far)

Some initial conclusions about Pluto and Charon, its largest moon.

Next Week We'll See Pluto Up Close for the First Time in History

On July 14, the New Horizons probe will be closer to Pluto than New York City is to Hong Kong.

screenshot from "Amazing Sunset Sky Show," NASA ScienceCasts

Look West Tonight! Venus and Jupiter Are in the Process of "Converging"

They're gliding across the sky towards each other all month long.

The Floating Poop Mystery That Has Haunted NASA Since 1969

The astronauts on NASA’s Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 paved the way for a pivotal moment in human history. But in the process, they introduced an entirely new kind of space exploration mystery.

Astronomers Find Mystery Telescope Data Came From Heating Up Lunch

NASA, ESA, and Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA), W. Blair (STScI/ JHU) and R. O'Connell (UVA) / TASCHEN

15 Magnificent Images from the Hubble Telescope

On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Telescope hitched a ride aboard the space shuttle Discovery and began its ascent into low-earth orbit, where it has remained ever since.

20 Adult Camps for the Young At Heart

When a presidential candidate says adults in America are suffering from a "fun deficit," you know it's time to take the issue seriously. The following 20 camps are alternative ways to spend your allotted vacation time.

Why Do We Only See One Side of the Moon?

It wasn't always this way...but it has been for a super-long time.

The Transit of Venus, in Orrery Form

"There's a little black spot on the sun today," -The Police, possibly referring to the Transit of Venus (well, actually, a breakup).

Zooming in on NASA's Giant Andromeda Galaxy Image

Computer: ENHANCE!

17 Odd Things We've Sent to Space for Some Reason

From the plush dinosaur the SpaceX crew brought aboard to the sandwich John Young smuggled into space, humans have sent some intriguing items into the cosmos.

What Would a Full Lunar Eclipse Look Like From the Moon?

Eclipses are a pretty amazing sight from our tiny little vantage points on Earth. But what would a lunar eclipse look like from the moon's surface? And what about that strange phenomenon we call a blood moon?

Cosmos: A Triumphant Reboot

There are so many ways a reboot of Cosmos could have gone wrong.

Why Do We Call Our Galaxy the Milky Way?

There are two questions that have haunted wannabe astronomers for decades: “Why is our galaxy called the Milky Way?” and “Does it have anything to do with the delicious candy bar?”

The Night Sky: 6 Hours of Stars

What Two Dead Stars Reveal About Earth's Origins

A couple of white dwarfs + space garbage = possible planet formation

10 Constellations that Never Caught On

Where Exactly Did the Russian Meteor Come From?

A scientific team from Colombia was able to trace back the explosive space rock's origins using "simple trigonometry."

Say Hello to the Tiniest Planet Ever Discovered

The Last Time a (Really Big) Meteor Hit Russia

In late 1908, the scientific community in St. Petersburg and Moscow was galvanized by vague reports filtering out of Siberia, telling of a gigantic, mysterious explosion that summer witnessed only by a handful of native Evenki tribesmen and Russian settle

How You Can Help Name Pluto's Two New Moons

P4 and P5 need new names. How does Cerberus sound? Or Styx?

5 Bold Proposals For Cleaning Up Space Junk

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