Astronomy: News, features and articles

Radio telescope dishes pointing towards the Milky Way galaxy — (Image credit: Haitong Yu / Getty Images)

Staring up into the night sky, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite expanse of space, with every pinprick of light in the vast canopy of darkness a star holding secrets forged by 13.8 billion years of the universe's existence. And yet, despite its great age and the unfathomable distance between us and even our nearest neighbor, through the study of astronomy we are able to understand more about the world beyond our atmosphere.

Join our expert writers and editors as we reveal the greatest mysteries in cosmology, such as how black holes form, and explore celestial bodies like exoplanets and nebulas, that are scattered throughout our universe. You will also discover how scientists are pushing the boundaries of space exploration using observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope with the latest astronomy news, features and articles.

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Astronomy news, features and articles

Discover more about astronomy

Latest about Astronomy

Rubin Observatory alerts scientists to 800,000 changes in the sky in one night

Giant 'spiderwebs' on Mars contain tiny egg-like structures that scientists 'can't quite explain,' NASA rover reveals

Fresh look at Apollo moon rocks solves decades-old lunar mystery

'Rare and enigmatic' structures found at the Milky Way's center in largest-ever map of its kind

James Webb telescope spots giant auroras rolling through Uranus' atmosphere

'Blood moon' total lunar eclipse: How to see the March 3 celestial spectacle from anywhere on Earth

Scientists spot 'rule-breaking' black hole growing 13 times faster than should be possible

Explore Astronomy

Asteroids

Black Holes

Comets

Cosmology

Meteoroids

Planets

The Moon

The Sun

Asteroids

Asteroid 2024 YR4's collision with the moon could create a flash visible from Earth

'Potentially hazardous' asteroid 2024 YR4 was Earth's first real-life planetary defense test

Astronomers discover skyscraper-size asteroid hidden in sun's glare

$100,000 quadrillion asteroid Psyche may be the product of metal volcanoes, study hints

Sneaky asteroid zooms past Antarctica closer than a satellite — and astronomers didn't catch it until hours after

Our solar system's asteroid belt is slowly disappearing

Science history: DART, humanity’s first-ever asteroid deflection mission, punches a space rock in the face — Sept. 26, 2022

'City killer' asteroid could be nuked before close encounter with the moon

What happened to the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?

Black Holes

Scientists spot 'rule-breaking' black hole growing 13 times faster than should be possible

Scientists may have seen a star collapse directly into a black hole without exploding first

'Runaway' black hole detected by the James Webb telescope adds a strange new chapter to our universe's story

The earliest black holes in the universe may still be with us, surprising study claims

Impossibly powerful 'ghost particle' that hit Earth may have come from an exploding black hole

Star-killing black hole is one of the most energetic objects in the universe

Astronomers discover a gigantic, wobbling black hole jet that 'changes the way we think about the galaxy'

'A real revolution': The James Webb telescope is upending our understanding of the biggest, oldest black holes in the universe

Scientists see monster black hole 'reborn' after 100 million years of rest

Comets

Scientists propose new plan to 'catch' comet 3I/ATLAS — but we have to act fast

City-size, cold-volcano comet transforms into a glowing 'snail shell' after major explosive outburst

Newly visible, city-size 'green comet' will soon be ejected into interstellar space — just like 3I/ATLAS

NASA telescope spots the building blocks for life spewing out of comet 3I/ATLAS

New 'sungrazing' comet could become visible to the naked eye during the day — if the sun doesn't destroy it

Dramatic death of Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) caught on camera — Space photo of the week

Astronomers may have already spotted the 'Great Comet of 2026' — and it could soon be visible to the naked eye

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS makes closest pass of Earth. Where's it heading next?

Comet 3I/ATLAS reaches its closest point to Earth tonight: How to see it

Cosmology

Our leading theory of dark matter may be wrong, huge new gravity study hints

'Invisible scaffolding of the universe' revealed in ambitious new James Webb telescope images

Every major galaxy is speeding away from us, except one — and we finally know why

Astronomers spot 'time-warped' supernovas whose light both has and hasn't reached Earth

Standard model of cosmology holds up in massive 6-year study of the universe

Our model of the universe is deeply flawed — unless space is actually a 'sticky' fluid

James Webb telescope saw black holes emerging from 'cocoons' near the dawn of time

'How can all of this be happening?': Scientists spot massive group of ancient galaxies so hot they shouldn't exist

30 models of the universe proved wrong by final data from groundbreaking telescope

Meteoroids

Ursid meteor shower 2025: When and where to see 'shooting stars' on the longest night of the year

See up to 150 'shooting stars' per hour this weekend as the Geminid meteor shower reaches its stunning peak

100,000 mph 'comet fragment' explodes in green fireball over Great Lakes, eerie videos show

This week's Leonid meteor shower could be one of the best in years. Here's why.

Orionids 2025: Meteor shower caused by Halley's Comet peaks as two new comets cross the sky

Dramatic 'fireballs' expected during Draconid meteor shower this week: How to get the best views

Meteorite that crash landed through Georgia man's roof is 20 million years older than Earth, scientists say

Perseid meteor shower 2025: How to see 'shooting stars' despite the full moon

The Perseids are about to peak — here's how to watch the glorious meteor shower without the full moon ruining the show

Planets

Giant 'spiderwebs' on Mars contain tiny egg-like structures that scientists 'can't quite explain,' NASA rover reveals

Rare 'planetary parade' will return to the evening sky this week

Saturn's largest moon may actually be 2 moons in 1 — and helped birth the planet's iconic rings

How long do most planets last?

Strange rocky world found lurking on the edge of 'inside out' planetary system

Something supercharged Uranus with radiation during Voyager flyby 40 years ago. Scientists now know what.

Martian meteorite that fell to Earth is full of ancient water, new scans reveal

Life-friendly molecules are leaking out of Jupiter's giant moon Europa

'Textbooks will need to be updated': Jupiter is smaller and flatter than we thought

The Moon