Chart showing Mars oppositions from 2018 to 2033

Here's why Mars oppositions are sometimes awesome. 2022 is a good year for Mars, but 2020 was even better. The next great Mars opposition is in 2033.

Perseverance rover reveals history of ancient habitable lake

NASA's Perseverance rover has collected 23 samples of rock so far in Jezero Crater on Mars. Analysis shows the ancient lake in the crater was quite habitable.

See the top 10 stories of 2023 from EarthSky

The top 10 stories of 2023 is a review of what we’ve learned in the past year from our home planet, Earth, and about our vast universe.

The day the solar wind disappeared at Mars

In December 2023, at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, scientists discussed a rare "disappearance" of the solar wind at the planet Mars.

Tiny brown dwarf is smallest found so far

NASA's Webb space telescope has found a tiny brown dwarf that is the smallest free-floating brown dwarf ever seen. Scientists aren't quite sure how it formed.

Solstices and equinoxes in a video from space

See how sunlight falls on Earth's surface during the solstices and equinoxes, and get a better understanding of why Earth's tilt causes the seasons.

The strange case of 2 missing giant exomoons (and maybe others)

Astronomers in Germany say that 2 possible giant exomoons probably don't actually exist. That's disappointing, but there are still some other candidates.

Watery plumes on Enceladus could hold signs of life

Do the plumes on Enceladus contain evidence of life from the moon's ocean? A new study shows that amino acids could survive and be detectable by spacecraft.

Does Chiron have rings? Or ring mimics?

A new study suggests that the possible rings around the centaur Chiron in the outer solar system are instead "evolving material" that mimics rings.

Mysterious 3200 Phaethon – parent to the Geminids – revealed?

3200 Phaethon is the weird comet-like asteroid that spawns the Geminid meteor shower. New research reveals more answers ... and questions.