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Just 40 light-years away, 3 potentially habitable planets
Earth-like planets aren't exclusively orbiting sunlike stars. Ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 hosts 3 potentially habitable planets.
May 3, 2016
Orbit like a comet, rocky like an asteroid
They're calling it a Manx comet, after the cats with no tails. It may have formed in the inner solar system and been ejected outward.
May 3, 2016
Astronomical events in 2016
A month by month listing of major moon phases, conjunctions, oppositions, meteor showers and other important dates, from astronomer Fred Espenak.
May 3, 2016
Milky Way over Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica
"Since three years ago, we have planned to shoot this photo. We went to the zone repeatedly but every time we got nothing ... until now." - Sergio Vindas
May 3, 2016
Inhospitable Danakil Depression hosts extreme life
It's below sea level, with near-boiling water bubbling up from underground, high salt concentrations and toxic vapor. Yet life survives here.
May 2, 2016
Criss-crossed Saturn rings?
Saturn's rings appear to be intersecting in an impossible way. But - in this new Cassini spacecraft image - we're really just seeing a play of light and shadow.
May 1, 2016
Hailstorm over Cambridgeshire, UK
Andy Howard said, "We don't often see such contrast in the sky, but this we had to stop and snap on the iPhone."
May 1, 2016
Did human limbs evolve from shark gills?
The Sonic Hedgehog gene drives embryonic development of mammal limbs and shark gills. Could our limbs have evolved from gills?
April 30, 2016
Late April sun pillar
Jesse Jackson saw this sun pillar near Tucson, Arizona. "Talk about a ray of sunshine," he said.
April 30, 2016
Breakthrough Starshot to Alpha Centauri
Breakthrough Starshot seeks proof of concept for a 100-million-mile-per-hour mission - using light-propelled nanocrafts - to reach the nearest star in 20 years.
April 29, 2016
