A true-blue world, 63 light-years away

Earth appears blue from space because it has oceans. Planet HD 189733b appears blue because of molten glass "raindrops" blowing sideways across its surface.

Spacecraft en route to Pluto spots its largest moon

NASA’s Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has spotted Pluto’s Texas-sized, ice-covered moon Charon for the first time.

As the sun moves through space …

The IBEX spacecraft has now mapped the structure of our solar system's comet-like tail. Photos in this post can help you picture how our sun carries you through space.

Video: Our solar system’s comet-like tail

Visualize the sun's tail - which space scientists call the "heliotail" - with this video.

Sun’s loops are displaying an optical illusion

New work shows that coronal loops are actually tapered, wider at the top and narrower at the ends - contrary to what our best sun photos suggest.

Astronomers witness birth of Milky Way’s most massive star

Scientists have observed in unprecedented detail the birth of a massive star within a dark cloud core about 10,000 light years from Earth.

Delicate Arch illuminated by flashlight

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, illuminated here by a woman with a flashlight.

Update on sunspot group 11 times as wide as Earth

AR1785 and AR1787 comprise one of biggest sunspot groupings of Solar Cycle 24. So far, though, the grouping has been surprisingly quiet.

Astronaut view of the Red Sea

This astronaut photo of the Red Sea lets you easily visualize how Africa and Arabia were once a single landmass before the Red Sea rift formed.

Wildfires may contribute more to global warming than previously predicted

The Las Conchas fire emissions findings suggest that fire emissions could contribute a lot more to the observed climate warming than current estimates show.