On some Martian nights, a subtle, green glow hangs low in the sky, wreathing the horizon in every direction. A visible Martian aurora has finally been observed for the first …
A Soviet space probe stuck in orbit since a failed 1972 launch has finally crashed to Earth. At 9:24 a.m. Moscow time (2:24 a.m. EDT) on May 10, the spacecraft, …
Astronomers have found a giant interstellar cloud surprisingly close to Earth. Lurking about 300 light-years from our solar system, this immense cloud of gas and dust is the closest of …
After 35 years, the Hubble Space Telescope is still churning out hits. In just the last year or so, scientists have used the school bus–sized observatory to confirm the first …
A potential dark galaxy — one made primarily of dark matter — may have been spotted in the local universe. Dark galaxies are theoretical, starless systems whose discovery could help …
You may have already seen the headlines: Signs of life have reportedly been discovered on an alien world. A team of astronomers led by Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of …
For the first time, astronomers have confirmed the existence of a lone black hole — one with no star orbiting it. It’s “the only one so far,” says Kailash Sahu, …
The carbon that once warmed Mars’ atmosphere has been locked in its rusty rocks for millennia. That’s the story revealed by a hidden cache of carbon-bearing minerals unearthed by NASA’s …
As the Mars rover Perseverance crested the top of Witch Hazel Hill, its operators back on Earth expected amazing things. This area on the western rim of the Jezero crater, …
The decades-long mystery of a never-ending explosion of X-rays around the remains of a dead star may have finally been solved. The radiation probably originates from the scorching-hot wreckage left …