Help name 5 new moons of Jupiter

You can help astronomers select names for 5 newly discovered moons of the planet Jupiter. Look here for contest details and how to enter.

Astronomers find a nearby river of stars

Researchers used Gaia data to find a stellar stream of at least 4,000 stars that have been moving together in space since they formed, about a billion years ago.

Weird hexagonal dune field seen on Mars

Mars has sand dunes, as Earth does. But now, NASA's Odyssey orbiter has revealed something odd: a large dune field shaped roughly like a hexagon. The finding is expected to provide more clues as to how dunes form in Martian winds.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 lands on asteroid Ryugu

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down briefly and successfully on asteroid Ryugu, 200 million miles (300 million km) from Earth. It successfully fired a bullet into the asteroid to puff up dust for sample collection.

Rosetta’s comet sculpted by stress

The Rosetta space mission revealed a comet as 2 icy balls apparently stuck together billions of years ago. Now scientists say the comet's double-lobed structure guided its evolution.

IAU names Chang’e-4 landing site on moon’s far side

The Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-4 made history earlier this year, when it became the first earthly spacecraft to land on the moon's far side. Now astronomers have named its landing site.

Earth’s atmosphere extends beyond moon

In fact, these researchers said, the moon flies through Earth's outermost atmosphere, called its geocorona.

Where is the universe’s missing matter?

When astronomers add up the mass of all the normal matter in the present-day universe, about a third of it can't be found. Where is it?

A solar flare 10 billion times more powerful than sun’s

Our sun's solar flares are an incredible natural phenomenon, but now astronomers have observed a flare on a young star that almost defies belief. It's 10 billion times more powerful than any seen on our sun!

Volcanic activity under Mars’s surface?

Mars has long been thought to be a geologically dead world. Could there still be volcanic activity beneath its surface? A subsurface lake at Mars' south pole suggests that possibility.