NASA’s Dawn spacecraft nears asteroid Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft will arrive at the main-belt asteroid Vesta tomorrow (July 15). Space scientists say the spacecraft is performing normally at this time.

Galaxy collisions not the only source of monster black hole activity

What causes a monster black hole at a galaxy's heart to turn on and begin radiating powerfully? European astronomers suggest a reason besides galaxy collisions.

Celebrate Neptune in awesome images

Today marks the completion of Neptune's first known orbit in human history. Voyager 2 gave us images of Neptune the early observers would have envied.

Space shuttle Atlantis liftoff seen from above

Space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:29 a.m. CDT (15:29 UTC) on July 8, 2011 for a final mission. This amazing photo captured the launch from above.

Space shuttle Atlantis up and away one last time

NASA's space shuttle Atlantis successfully blasted from Cape Canaveral on Friday, July 8, 2011. It is NASA's final space shuttle mission.

Giant thunderstorm on Saturn in images

The Cassini spacecraft delivers imagery of a massive thunderstorm on Saturn eight times the surface area of Earth.

Hubble Space Telescope’s one-millionth observation

The Hubble Space Telescope made its millionth observation during a search for water in the atmosphere of a planet 1,000 light-years away.

Clocking Neptune’s mysterious spin

A day on Neptune lasts 15 hours, 57 minutes and 59 seconds, according to the first accurate measurement of its rotational period.

Brightest quasar in early universe found

The quasar ULAS J1120+0641 is the brightest object yet discovered in the early universe, powered by a black hole with a mass two billion times that of the sun.

Asteroid close miss of Earth June 27

An asteroid the size of an RV motor home will narrowly miss striking Earth on June 27. Read more about the asteroid close miss.