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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—Best telescopes 2024: Beginner and advanced scopes for stars, galaxies and nebulas
Latest about Astronomy
Moon quiz: What do you know about our nearest celestial neighbor?
How's your moon knowledge? Full, half, or total eclipse?
The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight! How to see the year's last big display of 'shooting stars' before it's too late.
The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on Dec. 13 and 14. Up to 120 "shooting stars" per hour will rain down on Earth, but a near-full moon may hamper viewing.
'Like they were demon possessed': Geomagnetic super storms are causing tractors to dance from side to side across US farms — and the sun is to blame
Powerful solar storms in May and October painted auroras across large parts of North America. But some U.S. farmers also witnessed unusual activity from their high-tech machinery, which started boogying back and forth as a result of the geomagnetic disturbances.
Nearby exoplanet has grown a tail 44 times longer than Earth — and it's acting like a giant 'stellar windsock'
Researchers have detected a giant tail of gas leaking from an exoplanet near Earth. The giant structure, which is up to 350,000 miles long, is being blown away from the alien world by stellar gusts, allowing researchers to use it like a windsock.
China aims to be 1st to bring samples back from Mars
China's planned mission to bring rock samples to Earth from Mars would beat both NASA and the European Space Agency to the punch.
Cold Moon 2024: Watch the final full moon of the year rise with Jupiter this weekend
The Cold Moon — the 12th and final full moon of 2024 — will rise on Sunday (Dec. 15). It will ascend higher into the night sky than any other full moon this year to sit alongside the planet Jupiter.
Our sun may be overdue for a 'superflare' stronger than billions of atomic bombs, new research warns
A conceptual image of the sun launching a massive fiery plume toward Earth.
Scientists spot 'L-shaped structures' and 'weird things' near monster black hole in epic new Hubble telescope images
New Hubble Space Telescope images of a black hole-powered quasar reveal 'weird' structures and gigantic jets of energy that scientists are just beginning to explain.
