Astronomy

Astronomy is a broad discipline covering all facets of astrophysics. In this section you can learn about the origins of the universe, black holes and other astronomical phenomena.

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Winter is the perfect time to look for Orion's Belt in the Northern Hemisphere. If you're new to stargazing, we'll show you how to find it.

By Valerie Stimac

You might call it a Christmas miracle. Jupiter and Saturn will align so closely they may look like a double planet. The last time we saw this was in 1226.

By Valerie Stimac & Desiree Bowie

The Quadrantids are a short but powerful meteor shower that shows up in early January. How can you glimpse it?

By Valerie Stimac

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A magnetar is a neutron star with a super-strong magnetic field. Astronomers consider them among the scariest objects in the universe, but why?

By Valerie Stimac

Do you love looking at beautiful pictures of the night sky? How do space photographers get those shots? And could you join their ranks?

By Valerie Stimac

And this month's buck moon is extra-special because it is a supermoon!

By Valerie Stimac

The August 2023 full moon is known as the sturgeon moon. This year, it's also a supermoon and will be followed by a blue moon at the end of the month!

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

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Arcturus is 113 times brighter than our sun, even though it's only a little bigger. What else should we know about this red giant?

By Valerie Stimac

Surely you've watched tons of sunsets in your lifetime. But have you ever seen the sunset and the moonrise simultaneously? Is that even possible?

By Sharise Cunningham

As the search for Planet Nine wears on, and astronomers have yet to get so much as a glimpse of it, researchers are pondering what else the object might be.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Polaris, also known as the North Star, is almost exactly over the celestial North Pole, making it extremely useful for navigation (and for making wishes on, as well).

By Patrick J. Kiger

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The Geminid meteor shower is one of the year's stronger displays in terms of number and size of meteors. When's the best time to see it?

By Christopher Hassiotis

The moon has seen a lot in its 4.5 million years of life, and this detailed geologic map serves as testament.

By Jesslyn Shields & Yara Simón

In 1953, CalTech geochemist Clair Patterson came up with an estimate for Earth's age that still holds today.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Astronomers used Hubble's full range of imaging to dissect wild 'fireworks' happening in two nearby young planetary nebulas.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

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Star-gazers gasped when they saw how much Betelgeuse dimmed in 2019 and the reason wasn't clear. Even though it's back up to full strength, how long will it be before it explodes? We haven't seen a supernova in over 400 years.

By Nathan Chandler

Even if you've never looked through a telescope, you've probably seen Vega, one of the brightest stars in our galaxy. In fact, thousands of years ago, Vega was our North Pole star, and will be again in the future.

By Valerie Stimac

Check out this video of what astronauts in space see as the shadow of the moon crosses our planet.

By Christopher Hassiotis

And don't worry. Even if NASA misses, we'll be fine.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

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Every autumn, Earth passes through a stream of debris left by Halley's comet, resulting in some beautiful nighttime meteor showers called the Orionids. Here's what to watch for.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Get ready for the most powerful electromagnetic explosion the universe has ever known.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Everyone's heard of the blue moon and the harvest moon, but every other full moon of the year has a name, too. What are their names, and when do these moons occur?

By Nathan Chandler

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Researchers at the Zwicky Transient Facility have found an asteroid in Earth's orbit. And this one has the shortest year yet.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Did you know that a moon can leave its orbit around a large planet and go out on its own?

By Patrick J. Kiger