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Arcturus, a northern springtime star
Orange Arcturus is the constellation Bootes the Herdsman's brightest star. Look for it in the east around nightfall.
March 22, 2017
7 Earth-sized worlds? What we really see
A reality check from astrophysicist Brian Koberlein on what we actually see of the 7 recently discovered Earth-sized planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1.
March 21, 2017
It looked like the sun set twice
A lone, small, very brightly illuminated passing cloud - at the exact point where the sun was going down - caused the illusion of a double sunset.
March 21, 2017
Last sunset of winter sun pillar
Photographer Josh Blash caught this sun pillar last night in Hampton, New Hampshire. It's caused by ice crystals drifting in the air.
March 20, 2017
Fizzy lakes for Saturn’s moon Titan?
Bright features - informally known as "magic islands" - seem to appear and disappear in a Titan sea. A new study shows that bubbles could, potentially, be the cause.
March 20, 2017
Equal day and night on equinox?
The sun is a disk, not a point of light. Plus Earth’s atmosphere refracts sunlight. For both reasons, we have more than 12 hours of daylight on the day of an equinox.
March 19, 2017
New mosaic of Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula - 1,400 light-years away- is the closest star formation region to Earth. This image is the latest in the Hubble Space Telescope's collection.
March 18, 2017
Venus about to leave evening sky
And Mercury is climbing into it. By late March, Venus will have moved to the east before dawn as Mercury stages its best evening apparition of the year for northern observers.
March 18, 2017
Bodies freed from gravity’s grip
Life on Earth is used to gravity. So what happens to our cells and tissues in space?
March 17, 2017
Last night’s successful SpaceX launch
After standing down due to high winds, SpaceX chose March 16 for its EchoStar XXIII launch. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket delivered this commercial communications satellite for EchoStar Corporation to a geostationary transfer orbit.
March 17, 2017
