Moving shadows around a planet-forming star

This star has a spiral disk of dust around it. Processes in the inner disk - winds, or swirls or clashes of pebbles - seem to be casting shadows on the outer disk.

Study probes Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Plus, a new mission?

A new study shed light on what powers Enceladus' extraordinary geologic activity, while - at a conference in Seattle last week - space visionaries discussed a return to Saturn's geyser moon.

Wow! Juno’s 8th science flyby of Jupiter

A new and awesome batch of images has emerged from the Juno mission's most recent flyby of Jupiter. Plus, the mission gets a new project manager.

The zombie star that wouldn’t die

Supernovae like this one - designated iPTF14hls - usually remain bright for about 100 days. This one stayed bright for 600 days. Then, astronomers found a 1954 explosion in the same spot in the sky.

Nickname New Horizons’ next target

The craft that flew by Pluto in 2015 is heading for the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69. NASA and the New Horizons spacecraft team want you to help nickname it.

Next Mars rover will have 23 eyes

Cameras have come a long way since the first Mars rover in 1997. The newest Mars rover from NASA - on the Mars 2020 mission - will have a wider field of view, plus more color and 3-D imaging.

Astronomers complete 1st global asteroid tracking drill

This is only a test. Astronomers report on the TC4 Observation Campaign, which, in October, used a real Near-Earth Asteroid to practice our global response to a potential asteroid threat.

A rare chance to scrutinize a comet’s jet

On July 3, 2016 - as Comet 67P erupted with a plume of dust - the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft happened to pass right through the dust cloud.

What is dark matter?

Cosmologists are heading back to their chalkboards, as experiments designed to figure out the nature of dark matter come up empty.

Small object visits from beyond solar system

This small asteroid (or comet) passed under Earth's orbit on October 14 at about 60 times the moon's distance. Now it appears to be heading toward interstellar space again.

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