Rare blue asteroid sometimes behaves like a comet

Astronomers caught a glimpse of Phaethon - the bizarre blue asteroid responsible for the Geminid meteor shower - and found it even more enigmatic than they’d thought.

What made these weird straight lines on Dione?

Planetary scientists have discovered some very unusual long straight lines on the surface of Saturn's moon Dione. What created them?

Kepler planet-hunter retires

We currently have nearly 4,000 confirmed exoplanets, or planets orbiting distant suns. Kepler discovered more than 2,600 of them. But now Kepler is passing the torch.

Parker solar probe becomes closest-yet spacecraft to sun

On Monday, the Parker Solar Probe, launched August 12, broke the record for closest approach to the sun by a human-made object.

Ancient cold front in Perseus

Galactic cold fronts aren't like the cold fronts we experience on Earth. They're caused by galaxy clusters colliding into one another.

Why don’t Europa’s plumes have heat signatures?

Europa has been thought to have water vapor plumes similar to those on Saturn's moon Enceladus. But new research shows Europa's plumes differ significantly from those on Enceladus - or, perhaps - don't really exist at all.

Large and Small Magellanic Clouds collided!

Star motions in the Small Magellanic Cloud - as revealed by the Gaia space observatory - confirm that this small satellite galaxy of our Milky Way collided in the past with its larger neighbor.

Did scientists confirm Earth’s dust cloud satellites?

Have the Kordylewski clouds been confirmed? They were first reported In 1961, 2 clusters of dust, orbiting at about the moon's distance. They're faint. Have scientists now detected them?

Top 5 things to know about InSight Mars

InSight is a Mars lander - not a rover - designed to study a whole world from just one spot. It's due to arrive at Mars in November. Here are 5 highlights of the mission.

Lightning across the solar system

Lightning is beautiful and powerful on our own planet. Here's what's being discovered about lightning on other worlds, via NASA ScienceCasts.

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