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. 

Explore Space

Editor's Picks

an early solar system with a star at the center and the first planets forming in a disk around it
'Modest, humble, and uncommonly smart': How a Soviet mathematician quietly solved the mystery of planet formation "For years, he had the field of planetary formation, which he had created, virtually to himself. Most Soviet colleagues were skeptical and uninterested; his research appeared so speculative, so far removed from any evidence."
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.
JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata during his second spacewalk.
15 jaw-dropping spacewalk images Fearless astronauts push the limits in these epic spacewalk photos.

Latest about Space

Life requires repetition of chemical reactions. Describing the kinds of reactions and conditions required for self-sustaining repetition — called autocatalysis — could focus the search for life on other planets.

Alien life may evolve from radically different elements than human life did

By Charles Q. Choi published

Radioactive metals and even certain gases may be capable of the kinds of reactions needed to spur life, new research suggests.

Extraterrestrial Life
Large full moon that is orange rising over trees in Fall.

How to see the Harvest Moon, the final supermoon of 2023, rise this weekend

By Jamie Carter published

The famous Harvest Moon — the final supermoon of 2023 — will be the first full moon of autumn when it rises on Sept. 29.

The Moon
In the field of one of JWST's largest-area surveys, COSMOS-Web, an Einstein ring was discovered around a compact, distant galaxy. It turns out to be the most distant gravitational lens ever discovered by a few billion light-years.

Stunningly perfect 'Einstein ring' snapped by James Webb telescope is most distant gravitationally lensed object ever seen

By Harry Baker published

The James Webb Space Telescope has snapped a stunning image of a perfectly formed Einstein ring, which is also the most distant gravitationally lensed object ever detected.

Astronomy
Warped Milky Way

James Webb telescope spots thousands of Milky Way lookalikes that 'shouldn't exist' swarming across the early universe

By Ben Turner published

Thousands of disk galaxies like our own Milky Way were spotted in the early universe, where they shouldn't exist.

Astronomy
A JWST image of two large bright galaxies ringed in orange light from a distant supernova

Ancient supernova in James Webb telescope image could help solve one of the universe's biggest mysteries

By Harry Baker published

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a distant supernova that appears three times in the same photo. The new observations could help solve one of the universe's biggest inconsistencies.

Cosmology
NASA's Curiosity rover took this selfie while inside Mars' Gale crater on June 15, 2018, which was the 2,082nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.

Scientists created AI that could detect alien life — and they're not entirely sure how it works

By Ben Turner published

The new machine-learning algorithm can distinguish between biological and nonbiological samples with 90% accuracy. Exactly how is a mystery.

Extraterrestrial Life
The Chandrayaan 3 mission's Vikram lander photographed on the moon's surface by the Pragyan rover.

India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander fails to answer wake-up call, may be dead for good

By Tereza Pultarova published

The Indian lunar lander and rover entered hibernation in early September.

Space Exploration
A black hexagonal box with an orange eye in the center, sitting in the Utah desert. This is the OSIRIS-REx return capsule, safely landed on Earth

NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule returns to Earth with a sample from the 'potentially hazardous' asteroid Bennu

By Ben Turner published

A capsule containing 2 ounces of rocky material from the "potentially hazardous" asteroid Bennu has landed safely in the Utah desert after a seven-year mission in space.

Space Exploration
An image of the orange disk of the sun surrounded in a bast, glowing ring of spikes called the corona

Space photo of the week: The sun's violent corona like it's never been seen before

By Jamie Carter published

The sun's outer atmosphere was captured at previously impossible extreme ultraviolet wavelengths thanks to a last-minute engineering hack.

The Sun
Red dirt on Mars surface. Woman wearing futuristic exoskeleton exploring cave and mountain areas.

What would colors look like on other planets?

By Joanna Thompson published

Here's how your brain might adjust to see color on another world.

Planets
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