Sign Up for Our Amazing Newsletter!
A daily update by email. Science news, great photos, sky alerts.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Posts by
Kelly Kizer Whitt
New Horizons passes milestone distance 50 AU
On April 17, 2021, the New Horizons spacecraft passed 50 astronomical units - 50 times Earth's distance from the sun - while speeding toward interstellar space. It also captured an image of another earthly spacecraft, even farther out.
April 20, 2021
Moon-Mars occultation, from India
Some lucky skywatchers in Southeast Asia saw the moon pass in front of Mars on Saturday, April 17, 2021. Check out these images from EarthSky readers!
April 19, 2021
Before-and-after of asteroid Bennu’s sample site
During its final flyby this month, the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx took an image of the location where it collected a sample from asteroid Bennu's surface. It'll return to Earth 2 years from now, providing scientists with clues to the creation of our solar system.
April 17, 2021
Is Jupiter a key to finding dark matter?
Jupiter's large size and cool core make it an excellent target in the search for dark matter. A team of scientists is analyzing gamma-ray data from the Fermi Telescope looking for signs of the elusive substance.
April 16, 2021
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi sets a new space record
Congratulations to Japan's astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who this month was awarded the Guinness World Record for the longest time between spacewalks: 15 years and 214 days.
April 16, 2021
Raindrop sizes similar on Earth and alien worlds
Whether the raindrop is made of water on Earth, methane on Titan, or liquid iron on an alien world, a new study shows that all raindrops will fall to the ground at a similar size.
April 12, 2021
Hubble spots double quasars in merging galaxies
New images of the oldest known pairs of quasars, farthest and oldest yet seen, show that their home galaxies are colliding.
April 11, 2021
Juno finds a new auroral feature on Jupiter
NASA's Juno spacecraft - whose mission in orbit around Jupiter was recently extended to 2025 - has been used to discover a rapidly expanding auroral ring at the very fringes of the Jovian magnetosphere.
April 7, 2021
Interstellar visitor Borisov could be 1st truly pristine comet yet seen
Comet 2I/Borisov is the 2nd known object to pass near our sun from outside our solar system. Its 2019 pass near our sun might have been its first-ever interaction with a star. If so, it's among the most pristine, or unspoiled, objects yet known.
April 2, 2021
Awaiting the next historic solar storm
Researchers uncovering eyewitness accounts of powerful solar storms of the past say we should expect at least one super-storm from the sun per century.
March 31, 2021
