In 1670, skywatchers saw a nova, a star that appeared where none had been before. Today's astronomers have learned it was a collision between an aging white dwarf star, and less massive brown dwarf.
For the 1st time, astronomers have detected the faint radio afterglow of a ghost explosion - a kind of cosmic sonic boom - possibly the result of a weird kind of gamma-ray burst.
Voyager 2, launched in 1977, is now about 11 billion miles (17.7 billion km) from Earth. NASA says the spacecraft has detected an increase in cosmic rays, which might mean it's close to becoming only the 2nd human-made object, after Voyager 1, to enter interstellar space.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been in safe mode since last Friday evening, following the failure of one of the gyros that helps stabilize it. NASA is analyzing the problem and hopes to resume operations soon.
Night launches are always fun, and this October 7 launch by SpaceX - from Vandenberg Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles, California - generated more than its fair share of awesome images.
The European Space Agency's next big planet-hunting mission - the Plato space telescope - will continue the search for rocky and potentially habitable worlds orbiting other stars.
A new simulation by scientists lets you witness supermassive black holes about to collide. One shows them from outside the system, just 40 orbits from merging. The other places you in their midst.
Last year, in its Grand Finale, the Cassini spacecraft dove repeatedly between Saturn and its rings. This week, 6 teams of researchers published new research based on Cassini's final days and those daredevil dives.