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.
How TESS will hunt for alien worlds
Launched last week, TESS will scan 200,000 close and bright stars, seeking new planets and possibly livable worlds. Here's a roundtable discussion with 2 scientists on the TESS mission.
April 22, 2018
This Pacific island is the most plastic-polluted place on Earth
Explore remote, uninhabited Henderson Island in the South Pacific. It may look idyllic from above, but is littered with millions of tons of plastic.
April 22, 2018
April 21 is Astronomy Day
A beautiful chart from astronomer Guy Ottewell, showing the evening sky on Astronomy Day 2018. Plus links to Astronomy Day events and other info.
April 21, 2018
Was another civilization on Earth before humans?
How do we know earlier industrial civilizations on Earth didn't rise and fall long before humans appeared? That's the question posed in a new scientific thought experiment.
April 18, 2018
Green moon on April 20, 2018? Nah
For weeks, people have searched for this post more than any other at EarthSky. No, there won't be a green moon on April 20, 2018. It's a joke, y'all, with its roots (ahem) in cannabis culture. :-)
April 18, 2018
Underwater noise pollution stresses aquatic animals
The roar of motors, ping of military sonar, bangs and blasts from offshore development are distracting, confusing, and even killing, aquatic animals.
April 17, 2018
Impossibly starry skies over NYC
This week is International Dark Sky Week. Celebrate by watching this impossible, but magical, video of dark, starry skies over light-polluted New York City. It's new from Project Skyglow.
April 15, 2018
Watch launch of TESS planet-hunting mission April 16
TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Lift-off is planned for no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT (10:32 p.m. UTC).
April 15, 2018
IAU approves names for Pluto’s moon Charon
NASA held a public naming contest in 2015, just before New Horizons' sweep past Pluto and Charon. The spacecraft mission team has used many of the Charon feature names since. Now the IAU gives the names the nod.
April 12, 2018
Cosmic gorilla effect could blind detection of aliens
Could it be that the more rational and methodical searches for extraterrestrial intelligence are overlooking "the gorilla in the room?" A new study suggests it's possible.
April 11, 2018
