Staring up into the night sky, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite expanse of space, with every pinprick of light in the vast canopy of darkness a star holding secrets forged by 13.8 billion years of the universe's existence. And yet, despite its great age and the unfathomable distance between us and even our nearest neighbor, through the study of astronomy we are able to understand more about the world beyond our atmosphere.
Join our expert writers and editors as we reveal the greatest mysteries in cosmology, such as how black holes form, and explore celestial bodies like exoplanets and nebulas, that are scattered throughout our universe. You will also discover how scientists are pushing the boundaries of space exploration using observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope with the latest astronomy news, features and articles.
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Latest about Astronomy
'Totally amazing' astronaut photo captures comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS shooting past Earth from the ISS
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe.
How Pluto captured its largest moon Charon with a 10-hour icy 'kiss'
Pluto may have got romantic to capture its largest moon, colliding and engaging in a passionate but icy 10 hour kiss with Charon billions of years ago.
How to photograph the northern lights
Auroras can generate some truly spectacular images, but what's the best way to photograph the northern lights?
Supermassive black hole spotted 12.9 billion light-years from Earth — and it's shooting a beam of energy right at us
The newly discovered "blazar," which has a mass equal to 700 million suns, is the oldest of its kind ever seen and changes what we know about the early universe.
Rare string of 'cosmic pearls' dance together in the universe
A rare group of aligned, star-birthing dwarf galaxies resemble a cosmic string of pearls.
Earth's moon could've had Saturn-like rings, new study hints
A new study implies that in the past, moons in our solar system may have had rings just like planets do — deepening the mystery of why no ringed moons exist today.
How to watch the full Wolf Moon 'swallow' Mars in the sky tonight — no telescope required
Tonight (Jan. 13), bright Mars will disappear behind the full Wolf Moon for several hours before reappearing on the other side. It's the only lunar occultation of Mars visible from the U.S. this year. Here's how to get the most out of it.
See Mercury's frigid north pole in extraordinary new images from the BepiColombo spacecraft
A joint Japanese-European mission to Mercury just made its sixth flyby of the planet, revealing stunning close-ups of the permanently shadowed craters at Mercury's north pole.
Giant 'kidney beans' spotted in Mars satellite images could point to signs of water and life
A NASA satellite has spotted frozen "kidney beans" on Mars' sand dunes trapped in place until springtime. Photographing them can help us determine if there was ever enough water on Mars to sustain life.
