Astronomy

In this stellar nursery, firstborn stars are ruthless.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Like Earth, the sun does rotate, but in a different way.

By Patrick J. Kiger

No worries though. Jupiter, Neptune or Uranus could create their own beautiful, bright ring display in the distant future.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Scientists are continually discovering more moons orbiting the outer planets, particularly Saturn and Jupiter. Just how many moons does Jupiter have?

By Mark Mancini & Desiree Bowie

But don't buy your lakefront property just yet.

By Patrick J. Kiger

It's a celestial gift in the middle of August. Just look up for a spectacular sight.

By Christopher Hassiotis

Jupiter has been notoriously bad about revealing any water deep in its thick atmosphere. That's changing though.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

This stellar noodle is the strongest material in the cosmos!

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Do they even look different?

By Mark Mancini

Back in 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided to demote Pluto to the status of a dwarf planet. A historical study challenges that designation.

By Patrick J. Kiger

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a supermoon! Aside from being bigger and brighter than a regular moon, does a supermoon affect anything on Earth?

By Patrick J. Kiger

The European Space Agency's Gaia satellite observatory has created a 3-D model of the Milky Way — and beyond! — that charts more than a billion stars.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Say hello to the newly discovered TRAPPIST-1 system, which is just 39 light-years away and filled with seven Earth-like planets.

By Jonathan Strickland

The rings of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune may be remnants of smaller planets destroyed long ago by the gas giants' powerful gravity.

By Patrick J. Kiger

And solving that issue could go a long way toward making our planetary neighbor habitable.

By Jonathan Strickland

The sun's atmosphere is actually hotter than its surface, even though you'd assume the surface is what generates all that heat. How does that work?

By Patrick J. Kiger & Yara Simón

Saturn's largest moon Titan is the only other celestial body we know of that has liquid lakes on its surface. NASA has just captured some amazing footage of clouds.

By Christopher Hassiotis

The space telescope's ultraviolet observations come days before the Juno space probe will arrive to orbit the gas giant's polar regions.

By Christopher Hassiotis

The annual Leonid meteor shower is back, and peaks in the late-night hours of November 17. It's made up of tiny bits of debris from the comet Tempel-Tuttle. Here's how to see it.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Neither massive planets nor tiny stars, brown dwarfs are entirely different substellar curiosities that possess qualities of both.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.