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Dry ice frosts a Mars crater
The white markings here are bright residual carbon dioxide ice deposits - dry ice - on the south-facing rim of a pit crater on Mars.
September 18, 2018
TESS planet-hunter achieves 1st light
Launched last April, TESS is successor to the Kepler mission, which discovered a substantial fraction of all known exoplanets orbiting distant suns. This 1st-light image from TESS is cause for celebration. Ahoy! New worlds ahead!
September 17, 2018
Last night’s 1st quarter moon
A 1st quarter moon is showing us half of its day side, or a quarter of the whole moon.
September 17, 2018
Moon sweeps near Saturn and Mars September 17 to 19
On September 17, 18 and 19 - as soon as darkness falls - let the moon serve as your guide to 2 bright and beautiful planets, Saturn and Mars.
September 17, 2018
Use Cassiopeia to find Andromeda galaxy
Many use the constellation Cassiopedia - which is easy to find, shaped like an M or W - as a jumping off point for locating the near-nearest large galaxy to our Milky Way.
September 17, 2018
Report calls for direct images of Earth-like exoplanets
A congressionally-mandated report recommends that NASA lead efforts to directly image possibly Earth-like exoplanets, using upcoming technologies. A major goal is finding habitable - maybe even inhabited - worlds.
September 16, 2018
Mars is closest to the sun today
On September 16, 2018, Mars reaches perihelion, its closest point to the sun in its 2-year orbit. Mars' brightness in July and August - and a recent global dust storm on the planet - are both linked to this event.
September 16, 2018
10 years of Large Hadron Collider discoveries
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has generated mind-blowing science in the last decade – including the Higgs boson particle. How the LHC, one of the most complex machines ever created, is helping physicists decode the universe.
September 16, 2018
You can still see 4 evening planets
We've been treated for several months now to the sight of 4 bright planets in our evening sky. Although Mars isn't as bright now as it was, all 4 planets are still up there after sunset, visible from across Earth.
September 16, 2018
Giant iceberg A68 finally pushes off
We saw this break away from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica last year. Now, finally, it's beginning to drift.
September 15, 2018
