Moon, Venus, Mercury on February 6

Let the crescent moon guide you to Mercury as darkness wanes toward dawn on Saturday, February 6. And see all 5 planets before dawn!

Violent, head-on crash created moon

On this episode of EarthSky News, an update on the idea that the early Earth collided with a Mars-sized proto-planet to make the moon. That and more. Join us.

Is our Milky Way galaxy a zombie?

An astrophysicist says our Milky Way may already be dead, but is still going. Why do galaxies stop forming stars, change their shape and fade away?

Darn. No caverns on Rosetta’s comet

Low density of comets suggested there might be huge empty caves honeycombed throughout their interiors. Maybe true for some, but not so for Rosetta's comet.

Moon, Venus, Mercury next few mornings

Look for the waning crescent moon near planet Venus on the mornings of February 5, 6 and 7. And see all 5 planets before dawn.

The politico-economics of King Corn

Scott Fausti talks with EarthSky's Ben Duval about the potential future of corn agriculture and its implications for environmental sustainability.

New image of enormous black hole blast

It shows a giant jet of particles extending 300,000 light-years, blasting from a black hole at the center of a distant galaxy.

Watch cosmonauts’ spacewalk today

NASA TV will broadcast live coverage of a 5.5-hour spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts aboard ISS beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET (1230 UTC) Wednesday.

Saturn ring density is an illusion

The most opaque parts of Saturn's rings - the parts that look most dense - don't always contain more material. Another great Saturn mystery!

What are the odds aliens exist?

The star KIC 8462852 continues to display strange behavior, baffling astronomers and prompting speculation - and these musings - about advanced aliens.