Something Weird Is Happening to the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way By Meghan Bartels published 16 August 19 Astronomers have been watching the black hole at the center of our galaxy for 20 years, and in May, they saw something they'd never seen before.
'Interplanetary Shock' Seen for 1st Time By Meghan Bartels published 14 August 19 A team of four NASA spacecraft finally caught sight of a phenomenon scientists have been hunting for years: an interplanetary shock.
Skywatching Spider Photobombs Perseid Meteor Shower By Meghan Bartels published 10 August 19 How do you spot a "shooting star"? Well, you don't look for eight legs; that's for sure.
NASA Fed Apollo 11 Moon Rocks to Cockroaches (And Then Things Got Even Weirder) By Meghan Bartels published 29 July 19 The rocks were also dumped into fishbowls. And injected into mice. No, really.
This Strange Rock Formed on Mars Billions of Years Ago, Possibly from an Explosive Eruption By Meghan Bartels published 13 June 19 This is one of the most tangible pieces of evidence yet for the idea that explosive volcanism was more common on early Mars.
How Do You Stop a Hypothetical Asteroid from Hitting Earth? NASA's On It. By Meghan Bartels published 3 May 19 We'll have to deflect a space rock someday. It's just a question of when.
This Asteroid Will Come Incredibly Close to Earth on Friday the 13th, 2029 By Meghan Bartels published 1 May 19 The space rock will give our planet a close shave, and scientists are pumped.
Asteroid Bennu Goes Technicolor in 3-D NASA View By Meghan Bartels published 24 April 19 A space rock called Bennu is getting its close-up: NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to explore the asteroid has entered a new phase of detailed survey work.
Saturn's Moon Titan May Have 'Phantom Lakes' and Caves By Meghan Bartels published 17 April 19 These "phantom lakes" may be evidence of seasonal changes on the moon.
Japan Spacecraft Shoots Copper Bomb at Asteroid By Meghan Bartels published 5 April 19 It's still unclear how the dramatic operation went. But the hope is the explosive-packed bomb cut an artificial crater into Ryugu.
Hubble Telescope Reveals What 200 Billion Stars Look Like By Meghan Bartels published 27 March 19 Two incredible new images from the Hubble Space Telescope show galaxies in all their shining glory.
The Asteroid Bennu Keeps Spinning Faster. And Scientists Aren't Sure Why By Meghan Bartels published 14 March 19 On a distant space rock being explored by a NASA probe, days are slowly shortening — and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
Here's Your Chance to Name 5 Jupiter Moons! (No Moon McMoonfaces, Please) By Meghan Bartels published 6 March 19 Last summer, scientists announced the discovery of a dozen new moons orbiting Jupiter. But now comes the hard part: naming them.
Meet Ripley, SpaceX's Dummy Astronaut Riding on Crew Dragon Test Flight By Meghan Bartels published 1 March 19 SpaceX's famous "Starman" dummy onboard the inaugural Falcon Heavy launch is about to have some competition — from a new dummy, named Ripley, strapped into the company's first Crew Dragon capsule.
Japan Just Shot a Fake Asteroid with a Space Bullet … for Science By Meghan Bartels published 20 February 19 Say you need to prepare to shoot bullets into an asteroid and suck up the debris kicked up from the blast, then tuck it away for safekeeping.
Astrophysicists Find New Clue in Search for Universe's Missing Matter By Meghan Bartels published 17 February 19 Astronomers think they've found a new clue in their continuing quest to solve one of the most substantial mysteries of the cosmos: where about a third of the universe's matter is hiding.
Mysterious Blobs Around These Small Stars May Be Bad News for Alien Life By Meghan Bartels published 7 February 19
Bizarre Space Object 'Oumuamua Could Be a Monstrous Corpse of Comet Dust By Meghan Bartels published 6 February 19 'Oumuamua is long gone, but it's still leaving scientists guessing. A new explanation proposes that the strange object was a "monstrous fluffy dust aggregate" produced by a busted-up comet.
China Tests World's 1st Robot Ship for Launching Small Rockets By Meghan Bartels published 3 February 19 China has built the world's first robotic, partially submersible boat for launching sounding rockets — a technology that will help meteorologists better understand the atmosphere over Earth's oceans.
NASA Watched This Baby Island Burst From the South Pacific. And It Seems to Be Here to Stay. By Meghan Bartels published 3 February 19 A NASA scientist has visited a four-year-old island that satellites watched rise out of the waters — a rare opportunity to see in person a new island that lasts more than a few months.
Watch the Polar Vortex Cast Its Chill Over North America in This Satellite's-Eye View By Meghan Bartels published 1 February 19 Americans across the Midwest and Northeast can agree on one thing — it's really, really cold this week — and a NASA satellite monitoring air temperatures confirms the sentiment.
A Rare Kind of Black Hole May Be Wandering Around Our Milky Way By Meghan Bartels published 17 January 19 Scientists think that they've spotted a rare, Jupiter-size black hole casually strolling through the Milky Way galaxy.
Cotton Seed Sprouts on the Moon's Far Side in Historic First by China's Chang'e 4 By Meghan Bartels published 15 January 19