Space

Space is a seemingly infinite world of wonder and discovery, filled with mysterious black holes, stunning solar flares, elusive exoplanets and countless cosmic oddities. Our team of expert science writers and editors are ready to hold a James Webb Space Telescope-size lens beyond Earth, keeping those on this planet up to date with the latest space news, articles and features. 

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Editor's Picks

Any asteroid larger than 165 feet (50 m) across is capable of breaching Earth's atmosphere and striking the ground. The sun's glare could be blinding us to thousands of them.
'Planet killer' asteroids are hiding in the sun's glare. Can we stop them in time? In the glare of the sun, an unknown number of near-Earth asteroids move on unseen orbits. A new generation of space telescopes could be our best defense against potential disaster.
Check out our best binoculars for stargazing. In this image, a man is standing behind his car using a pair of binoculars to look at the stars.
Best binoculars for stargazing 2023: Spot stars and galaxies View our top picks of for the best binoculars for stargazing and astronomy, and peer into the cosmos whilst staying grounded.
Illustration of tractor beam in space
Sci-fi inspired tractor beams are real, and could solve a major space junk problem Researchers are developing a real-life tractor beam, with the goal of pulling defunct satellites out of geostationary orbit to alleviate the space junk problem.

Latest about Space

The greenish comet 46P/Wirtanen is responsible for the new shooting stars.

Brand-new meteor shower from 'Christmas comet' may appear over Earth for 1st time this week

By Abha Jain published

A brand-new meteor shower triggered by the 'Christmas comet' 46P/Wirtanen may appear over Earth for the first time on Dec. 12, though it will be visible from only a small sliver of the world.

Meteoroids
This artistic rendering shows ice plumes being ejected from Enceladus at major speeds.

Signs of life shooting from Saturn's moon could be collected with spacecraft, scientists say

By Rahul Rao published

Possible amino acids spewing from Enceladus' subsurface ocean can survive impact with a spacecraft, lab experiments show.

Saturn
A magical night in the Atacama Desert.

Space photo of the week: 'Magical' Milky Way cuts through the Valley of the Moon in Chile's Atacama Desert

By Jamie Carter published

Astrophotographer Petr Horálek shot this image of the Milky Way dazzling above strange geological formations in the desert close to the ALMA radio telescope array in Chile.

Astronomy
An illustration of the solar system and the planet's orbits around the sun

How many times has Earth orbited the sun?

By Harry Baker published

We worked out how many trips each of the solar system's eight planets has taken around the sun over the past 4.6 billion years.

Planets
An aerial view of a volcanic island as it forms off the coast of Iwo Jima.

Newly-formed volcanic island near Japan is still growing, satellite reveals

By Robert Lea published

The island forged in fire off the coast of Japan in Oct this year is still growing, as seen in a Copernicus Sentinel-2 image caught on Nov. 27.

Space
This view of Comet Halley's nucleus was obtained by the Giotto spacecraft as it passed within 600 km of the comet nucleus on March 13, 1986.

Halley's Comet has begun its return journey to Earth

By Brandon Specktor published

Halley's Comet was predicted to reach its farthest point from the sun on Dec. 9, beginning a 38-year journey toward Earth that culminates in 2061.

Comets
A photo of the moon in its First Quarter phase

What is the moon phase today?

By Colin Stuart last updated

Reference A look at the phases of the moon, from new moon to full moon, including's tonight's lunar phase.

Reference
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (right), pictured with dwarf tomatoes on the International Space Station, lost hold of a dwarf tomato shortly after the harvest on March 29, 2023. The tomato's remains were finally retrieved by another ISS crew, who announced the feat on Dec. 6, 2023.

NASA astronauts finally find 1-inch tomato that was 'lost in space' for 8 months

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio spent hours looking for a tomato that floated away on the International Space Station. Eight months later, his colleagues finally found it.

Space Exploration
Gemini meteor shower 2018 over lake in Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, China.

The Geminids — this year's only multicolored meteor shower — peaks next week. Here's how to watch.

By Jamie Carter published

As many as 120 'shooting stars' per hour will be visible during the moonless peak of the Geminid meteor shower on Dec. 13 and 14.

Meteoroids
The space junk appears as many small white points surrounding Earth, which has bright blue oceans and green and brown continents. The space junk is thick enough to form a cloud that obscures most of the black background when viewed from the edges around Earth.

'Lightning-like energy bursts' could be used to track the 99% of space junk that can't be seen from Earth

By Stephanie Pappas published

Current methods of tracking space junk in Earth's orbit only follow objects bigger than a softball. A new technique could trace the 99% of junk that's smaller.

Space Exploration
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