Bizarre 'polygons' are cracking through the surface of Mars By Brandon Specktor published 25 June 22 A new image from NASA's HIRISE camera reveals strange 'polygons' cracking open the surface of Mars. It's just a typical sign of spring, scientists say.
Why do stars twinkle? By Colin Stuart published 23 June 22 Stars appear to twinkle because the light from these distant objects passes through wobbly air in the atmosphere.
Giant sunspot doubled in size in 24 hours, and it's pointing right at Earth By Ben Turner published 23 June 22 The sunspot is caused by the knotting of powerful magnetic-field lines.
This is the best time to spot a rare alignment of five planets. Here's how to watch it. By Stephanie Pappas published 23 June 22 The five visible planets in the solar system are lined up against the predawn sky. Here's how to see them.
The best-ever view of an epic 5-planet alignment is happening this week By Brandon Specktor published 22 June 22 Earth's moon will join a rare 5-planet alignment in the predawn hours of June 23 to 25, for the first time in more than 150 years.
NASA suddenly aborts moon rocket test launch with 29 seconds on the clock By Brandon Specktor published 22 June 22 NASA aborted the 4th consecutive rehearsal launch of its powerful SLS rocket on Monday, citing a hydrogen leak.
Blood-red aurora transforms into 'STEVE' before stargazer's eyes By Brandon Specktor published 22 June 22 New footage shows the mysterious auroral phenomenon called STEVE emerging from a blood-red arc of light in New Zealand in 2015.
Bizarre spiral object found swirling around Milky Way's center By Brandon Specktor published 20 June 22 A large star surrounded by a spiral-shaped disk of dust could be the result of an ancient near-miss collision at the Galactic Center.
Monstrously huge black hole devours an Earth-size chunk of matter every second By Harry Baker published 18 June 22 Astronomers in Australia have detected the brightest and fastest-growing black hole to have existed in the last 9 billion years.
China’s 'alien' signal almost certainly came from humans, project researcher says By Ben Turner published 17 June 22 Despite the false alarm, SETI researchers are still pretty sure we’re not alone in the universe.
Rogue black hole wandering Milky Way alone proves Einstein right again By Robert Lea published 17 June 22 Astronomers have directly measured the mass and velocity of an isolated black hole for the first time using gravitational lensing.
Scientists find remains of cannibalized baby planets in Jupiter's cloud-covered belly By Harry Baker published 16 June 22 A first-of-its-kind study into the inner workings of Jupiter has revealed that the gas giant fed on baby planets as it grew.
China says it may have received signals from aliens By Ben Turner published 15 June 22 The signals were detected in narrow-band radio frequencies, which typically only come from artificial sources.
Physicists link two time crystals in seemingly impossible experiment By Paul Sutter published 14 June 22 New time crystal achievement could help bridge classical and quantum physics.
Perseverance rover accidentally adopts hitchhiking 'pet rock' By Harry Baker published 10 June 22 NASA's perseverance rover has a "pet rock" that has been stuck in its front-left wheel for four months.
NASA joins hunt for UFOs By Ben Turner published 9 June 22 NASA says they will start studying the objects as soon as early fall
'Rubber-ducky' asteroid 200 million miles away holds building blocks of life By Ben Turner published 9 June 22 More than 20 types of amino acids were found on Ryugu
Weird type of fast radio burst discovered 3 billion light-years away By Ben Turner published 9 June 22 Astronomers traced the mysterious object to a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light-years away.
James Webb Space Telescope hit by large micrometeoroid By Meghan Bartels published 9 June 22 NASA's next-generation space observatory has sustained its first noticeable impact less than six months after launch, but the agency isn't too concerned.
Watch a glorious 'Strawberry Supermoon' burst into the sky on June 14 By Brandon Specktor published 9 June 22 How to watch the June full moon, a supermoon known as the Strawberry Moon, rise on June 14.