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The full moon rises behind Monte Camicia mountain in Gran Sasso National Park in Italy, on Dec. 19, 2021.

How to watch the 'Ice Moon' rise on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

By Stephanie Pappas published

The first full moon of 2022 will rise at 6:48 p.m. EST on Monday (Jan. 17), which is also the day the U.S. observes the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Allan Hills 84001 meteorite came from Mars and was found in Antarctica in 1984.

Infamous Mars meteorite contains organic molecules. But they aren't proof of life.

By Charles Q. Choi published

Organic molecules in a Mars meteorite that crash-landed on Earth are not signs of life, but instead formed in chemical reactions between water and rock.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Jan. 12, 2022, one day before it launched on the 105-satellite Transporter-3 mission. This photo was captured from space by a SkySat satellite operated by the San Francisco-based company Planet.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket spotted from space before and after epic 105-satellite launch (images)

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX has some nice before-and-after photos to mark the 10th launch of one of its Falcon 9 rockets, thanks to a satisfied customer.

The 2-foot vacuum chamber will use magnets to recreate lunar gravity here on Earth.

China builds 'artificial moon' for gravity experiment

By Ben Turner published

The test chamber will enable scientists to test technologies and structures on Earth before sending them to the moon.

Saturn's rings

What are Saturn's rings made of?

By Ailsa Harvey published

Reference Saturn's rings have captured the attention of scientists for as long as they have been seen. Today, missions continue to teach us about these rocky rings.

Reference
An artist's depiction of colliding black holes causing ripples in the fabric of space-time.

Curvature of space-time measured using 'atomic fountain'

By Rahul Rao published

A group of physicists has measured gravity using the effects of time dilation — the slowing of time imparted by increased velocity or gravitational force — on atoms.

An image of the pebble-sized debris clogging Perseverance's sampling apparatus, acquired on Jan. 7, 2022, by the WATSON camera.

NASA's Perseverance rover is clogged up with pebbles

By Stephanie Pappas published

The Perseverance Mars rover is awaiting orders after its sampling apparatus became clogged by pebble-size debris.

Star trails are seen over the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope on Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

Largest dark energy map could reveal the fate of the universe

By Tom Metcalfe published

A telescope in Arizona modified to measure the true distance of galaxies has produced the largest three-dimensional map of the universe ever.

An artist's representation of the MIlky Way surrounded by shredded stellar streams

Shredded 'stellar streams' could lead to the Milky Way's missing dark matter

By Brandon Specktor published

Astronomers mapped 12 stellar streams, which could lead to the Milky Way's missing dark matter.

Artist's illustration of the Local Bubble with the sun's location in the center and star formation occurring on the bubble's surface.

Earth is at the center of a 1,000-light-year-wide 'Swiss cheese' bubble carved out by supernovas

By Harry Baker published

A new study into the Local Bubble, a cosmic void surrounding Earth, has mapped out the star-forming regions on the bubble's surface and uncovered more information about its explosive birth.

Very large space rocks that fly within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers) of Earth's solar orbit are known as potentially hazardous asteroids.

Look up! A 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will safely zip by Earth on Jan. 18

By Mindy Weisberger published

An enormous asteroid more massive than two Empire State Buildings will zoom harmlessly past Earth next week. Look up!

A government employee photographed a UFO that hovered for 15 minutes near Holloman Air Development Center in New Mexico, on Oct.16, 1957.

Pentagon launches new UFO office. Not all believers are happy about it.

By Stephanie Pappas published

The U.S. government will officially investigate UFOs with a new office based in the Pentagon.

This illustration shows the diamond rain on Neptune.

'Diamond rain' on Uranus and Neptune seems likely

By Paul Sutter published

Hiding beneath the outer layers of some planets, there may be something spectacular: a constant rain of diamonds.

An artist’s rendition of a red supergiant star transitioning into a Type II supernova, emitting a violent eruption of radiation and gas on its dying breath before collapsing and exploding.

Scientists watched a star explode in real time for the first time ever

By Brandon Specktor published

Scientists watched a red supergiant star go supernova in real time, and it was far more violent than they were expecting.

Radar system

How radar works: The technology made famous by war

By Mark Smith published

Reference Radar uses radio waves to enable us to see what’s around us even when our eyes can’t

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Google celebrated the life and legacy of scientist Stephen Hawking in a Google Doodle for what would have been his 80th birthday on Jan. 8, 2022.

Stephen Hawking would have been 80 today. Google Doodle honors famous physicist.

By Elizabeth Howell published

The pioneering work of physicist Stephen Hawking is honored in a Google Doodle today (Jan. 8).

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shown above Earth.

Hubble Space Telescope hits record-breaking 1 billion seconds in the final frontier

By Samantha Mathewson published

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has reached a major milestone: one billion seconds in the final frontier.

The 'mysterious hut' appears as a cube-shaped protuberance above the horizon of the lunar surface.

Mystery 'moon hut' is actually an adorable rabbit-shaped rock

By Stephanie Pappas published

China's lunar Yutu 2 rover has investigated what appeared to be a "moon hut" and found it to be a pretty cute rock.

This image shows a section of the side view of the Milky Way as measured by ESA’s Gaia satellite. The dark band consists of gas and dust, which dims the light from the embedded stars. The Galactic Centre of the Milky Way is indicated on the right of the image, shining brightly below the dark zone. The box to the left of the middle marks the location of the “Maggie” gas cloud.

Bizarre cloud of gas is one of the longest structures in the Milky Way

By Harry Baker published

Astronomers have discovered a cloud of atomic hydrogen more than 3,900 light-years long, known as "Maggie," in the Milky Way.

The "wildfires" in this image are actually Orion's Flame Nebula and its surroundings captured in radio waves. The image was taken with the ESO-operated Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), located in Chile's Atacama Desert.

'Cosmic wildfires' burn bright in new photo of the Flame Nebula

By Stephanie Pappas published

A fiery new photograph of the Flame Nebula depicts the emissions from brand-new stars, burning through space like cosmic wildfires.