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Moon near Antares and Saturn May 11-13
If they’re not up before your bedtime, watch this celestial threesome – the moon, Antares and Saturn – in the west before morning dawn.
May 11, 2017
Moon and Mercury after sunset August 4
It won't be easy to catch Mercury near the August 4 young moon. But if your sky is clear all the way to the western horizon after sunset, try it!
August 4, 2016
Do no harm to life on Mars? Ethical limits of Prime Directive
A philosopher argues that now is the time to figure it out, before we make the inevitable discovery of extraterrestrial life.
May 14, 2016
Old under-ice volcanoes on Mars
An oddly textured region of southern Mars is not ice-covered today. Yet landforms here - and now certain minerals - are associated with under-ice volcanoes.
May 12, 2016
Kepler confirms 1,284 new planets
The announcement more than doubles Kepler's confirmed exoplanets and suggests that, somewhere out there, we'll discover another Earth.
May 11, 2016
Why Planet 9 shouldn’t exist
Earlier this year, scientists presented evidence for a Planet Nine in the far outer solar system. Scientists think it exists, but - if so - how did it get there?
May 9, 2016
A pure methane sea on Titan
We knew that Saturn's moon Titan had seas and lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, but their exact composition was unknown until recently.
May 3, 2016
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
