Space News & Blog Articles

The luminous Geminid meteor shower returns. We also meet a binocular-bright star that may be experiencing Betelgeuse-like convulsions.

That’s one small change in an asteroid’s orbit, one giant leap for humanity.

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight, iSpace’s Hakuto R from Japan, and the United Arab Emirates' Rashid rover are all headed to the Moon after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket.

Redevelopment plans could threaten the site that houses the Holmdel Horn, the instrument responsible for hearing the "hiss" of background radiation from the Big Bang.

Mars, just past opposition, remains bright as it aligns between Aldebaran and Capella. Jupiter shines highest after dusk. And watch for the Geminid meteors.

Sky & Telescope editors report their observations of last night's celestial event: Mars grazing or disappearing behind the Moon.

Long-ago impacts tossed up the floors of an ancient ocean on the Red Planet and carried debris to the landing site of NASA’s Viking 1 lander.

Gamma-ray bursts are generally thought to come in two flavors — supernovae or neutron star mergers. But discoveries are blurring that line.

On the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17, we look back at iconic photos as well as rarely seen images from the mission.

Some of the small missions deployed from Artemis 1 will go on to do great things, while others remain silent.

An abundance of astro images can make up (a little) for cloudy skies and other things in life that may keep us from observing.

A collection of five research studies delve into the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39b as astronomers seek to better understand the chemistry of a world beyond the solar system.

The night of December 7–8 will be an exciting one for fans of the Red Planet. Not only will Mars be at opposition, but the full Moon will blot it out of the sky for many locations on Earth.

Mars is at opposition this week. And on the opposition night of December 7-8, the perfectly full Moon occults Mars. Orion enters stage east ever earlier, the Summer Triangle sinks in the west, and the Big Dipper lies low.

Brand-new images from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i reveal clouds beneath the haze on this enshrouded moon.

December's solstice means that for many skywatchers the night will be up to 14 hours long — providing lots of time to enjoy the starry sky. This month’s celestial highlights are the close approach of the Moon and Mars (and, for many, a coverup) on December 7th and the Gemind meteor shower on the December 13th. Our fun and factual Sky Tour podcast provides all the details.

It may not be the closest opposition, but this time around Mars arcs high across the sky where good seeing promises sharp views. That's not all. On December 7th, one night before opposition, the full Moon occults the Red Planet!

Stars are most often born as multiples. Now, the TESS telescope has caught one of these multiple systems in a unique setup.

Mars is closest to Earth this week, closer and brighter than we'll see it again until 2033. By late evening it's high overhead in excellent telescopic view.

Polarized X-rays are helping astronomers take a closer look at blazars’ “plasma guns,” the particle jets powered by supermassive black holes.

Jay M. Pasachoff, Chair of the Astronomy Department, Director of the Hopkins Observatory, and Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, succumbed to cancer on Sunday morning, November 20th.