Astronomy

It turns out that measuring the distance to a star is an interesting problem! Astronomers have come up with two different techniques to estimate how far away any given star is.

Can the curvature of the Earth only be seen from outer space? If you didn't know that the Earth is a sphere, there are three common observations you could use to convince yourself that it is.

Where I live it is pretty common to see "shooting stars" -- streaks of light in the sky at night. How big is a shooting star? Do they land on earth or do they burn up? Do they land on the ground as meteorites?

The sun warms our planet every day, provides the light by which we see and is necessary for life on Earth. But what is it exactly, and what will happen when it burns itself out?

By Julia Layton & Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

When you look up at night and see thousands of stars, have you ever wondered what you are looking at? Learn what stars are and how they live and die!

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

The Chandler wobble is the change in the spin of Earth on its axis. Think of the wobble you see in a toy top when it first starts spinning or slows down. Its 'poles' do not spin in a perfectly straight line.

Stars are enormous celestial bodies hot enough to register millions of degrees. They're fascinating scientific phenomena, but is it actually possible for scientists to create them?

By Jonathan Strickland

The occasional sunspot can interrupt communications here on Earth. But major solar flares have the potential to cause more havoc. Could a flare-up wipe out all our electronics?

By Jonathan Strickland

Scientists have discovered the existence of water on both our moon and on Mars. Both findings are significant, but what do they mean? Can we use this information to our advantage for space exploration?

By Josh Briggs

It's your home, and a colossally sized one at that. How much do you know about your galactic digs and their residence amid the yawning universe?

By Robert Lamb

How are stars formed? In this article we'll explain stars and learn how stars are formed.

By Robert Lamb & Austin Henderson

A lunar land rush is the most likely thing in the world (or, rather, out of it). As private companies gaze spaceward with dollar signs in their eyes, it's time to start settling some questions about space ownership, use and management.

By Nicholas Gerbis

A dying star can explode with the force of a few octillion nuclear bombs and create any element in the universe. But why do stars go supernova?

By Laurie L. Dove

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Big as this gas giant is though, next to the sun, it's still small.

By Mark Mancini

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, and it's the smallest in the solar system. So why does it have longer days than we have on Earth?

By Mark Mancini

While we generally picture the sun and planets when thinking about our solar system, it also consists of comets, asteroids and hundreds of moons.

By Nicole Antonio

Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and one of the coldest. It also has supersonic winds that are the fastest in the solar system.

By Mark Mancini

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and sits on an axial plane tilted at a jaw-dropping 97.7-degree angle. And yes, Uranus does actually stink.

By Mark Mancini

The atmospheric pressure is crushingly extreme on Venus, and lead would melt into a puddle on its surface. But as hellish as this place sounds, it actually has a lot in common with Earth.

By Mark Mancini

Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second-largest planet in the solar system. This gas giant has more rings and moons than any other planet.

By Mark Mancini

Some of the most interesting objects in our solar system are also the smallest or largest. In addition to the sun, planets, and moons, our solar system has a variety of small objects such as asteroids, comets, stars, meteors, and moons. These have affected what has happened on Earth in many ways.

Even though it's tiny compared to the rest of the universe, Earth is a complex planet that, so far, is the only one we know of that sustains life.

By Kathryn Whitbourne & Mark Mancini

A look at the night sky at any time of year will reveal a faint band of light stretching across the sky -- our solar system's home, the Milky Way. How much do we really know about it?

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D. & Desiree Bowie

Precipitation does fall from the clouds of other planets, but it's a little more exotic than the rainwater we get here on Earth. Imagine sheets of methane, sulfuric acid and, yes, diamonds falling from the sky.

By Alison Cooper

Our knowledge of space changes all the time as new discoveries are made. But some ideas about the universe have never really held water – including the one that everything is made of frozen H2O.

By Nathan Chandler