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.

Discover more about astronomy

—35 jaw-dropping James Webb Space Telescope images

—What is the hottest place in the universe?

—Best telescopes 2024: Beginner and advanced scopes for stars, galaxies and nebulas

Astronomy news, features and articles

Discover more about astronomy

Latest about Astronomy

Scientists may finally know where the oldest gold in the universe came from

Astronomers discover giant 'bridge' in space that could finally solve a violent galactic mystery

James Webb Space Telescope finds a wild black hole growth spurt in galaxies at 'cosmic noon'

Scientists spot 'dark nebula' being torn apart by rowdy infant stars

Has the James Webb Space Telescope discovered a 'missing' supermassive black hole? (video)

Space photo of the week: Iconic 'Eagle Nebula' gets a major glow-up on Hubble's 35th anniversary

There's liquid on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. But something's missing and scientists are confused

Explore Astronomy

Asteroids

Black Holes

Comets

Cosmology

Meteoroids

Planets

The Moon

The Sun

Asteroids

NASA's Lucy spacecraft snaps first close-ups of weird peanut-shaped asteroid

Asteroid 2024 YR4 surprises scientists with 'unusual' shape and could slaphsot the moon

James Webb telescope takes emergency look at 'city-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 ahead of close encounter in 2032

'Potentially hazardous' pyramid-size asteroid will make its closest flyby of Earth for more than 100 years this Wednesday

'That's Zero Folks!': Asteroid 2024 YR4 is no longer a hazard

'Just the tip of the iceberg': Why risky asteroids like 2024 YR4 will pester Earth for decades to come

Asteroid YR4 impact odds plummet as NASA changes threat level of 'city-killer'

NASA just changed the odds of asteroid YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 yet again

Chance of 'city-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 smashing into Earth rises yet again to 3.1%, NASA reports

Black Holes

James Webb Space Telescope finds a wild black hole growth spurt in galaxies at 'cosmic noon'

Has the James Webb Space Telescope discovered a 'missing' supermassive black hole? (video)

James Webb telescope solves 'impossible' black hole mystery

Newly 'awakened' black hole is releasing 100 times more energy than scientists have seen before

Incredible photo shows supermassive black hole blowing a jet of matter into interstellar space

Black holes can destroy planets — but they can also lead us to thriving alien worlds. Here's how.

Black holes may obey the laws of physics after all, new theory suggests

Stephen Hawking's black hole theory has big implications for the shape of the universe, new study claims

Record-setting black hole 'echo' accidentally uncovered by high-school student

Comets

Newly discovered comet SWAN just 'erupted' with a bright, icy burst. Is it a cold volcano?

Amateur astronomer discovers bright green comet SWAN25F — and you can see it too

Space photo of the week: The last view of the 'Great Comet of 2025' for half a million years

Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS' 'near-death encounter' with the sun may have blown it apart, new photos suggest

'Totally amazing' astronaut photo captures comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS shooting past Earth from the ISS

Rare comet could shine bright as Venus as it falls toward the sun: What to expect from Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3

Comets played a 'major' role in making life on Earth possible, new study hints

Mysterious, city-size 'centaur' comet gets 300 times brighter after quadruple cold-volcanic eruption

'Crumb trails' of meteoroids could reveal potential 'planet-killer' comets years before they reach Earth

Cosmology

Gamma-ray bursts reveal largest structure in the universe is bigger and closer to Earth than we knew: 'The jury is still out on what it all means.'

Universe may revolve once every 500 billion years — and that could solve a problem that threatened to break cosmology

The universe's 'missing matter' may have finally been found

Rare quadruple supernova on our 'cosmic doorstep' will shine brighter than the moon when it blows up in 23 billion years

Scientists discover smallest galaxy ever seen: 'It's like having a perfectly functional human being that's the size of a grain of rice'

Atacama Telescope reveals earliest-ever 'baby pictures' of the universe: 'We can see right back through cosmic history'

'We had less than a 2% chance to find this': James Webb telescope uncovers baffling 'Big Wheel', one of the most massive galaxies in the early universe

'I was astonished': Ancient galaxy discovered by James Webb telescope contains the oldest oxygen scientists have ever seen

Could the universe ever stop expanding? New theory proposes a cosmic 'off switch'

Meteoroids

Lyrid meteor shower peaks after Easter: How to spot the most 'shooting stars'

How a 'mudball' meteorite survived space to land in the jungles of Central America

'It was so simple': How Antarctica's missing meteorites were discovered using a block of ice, a freezer and a lamp

Quadrantid meteor shower: How to watch the first 'shooting stars' of 2025 rain over Earth tonight

Meteor strikes on the moon! Astronomer captures possible Geminid lunar impacts

Ursid meteor shower 2024: Where and when to see the final meteor shower of the year

The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight! How to see the year's last big display of 'shooting stars' before it's too late.

Meteorite found in a drawer at university contains 700-million-year-old evidence of water on Mars

Look for 'fireball' meteors over the US tonight as the North Taurid meteor shower peaks

Planets

There's liquid on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. But something's missing and scientists are confused

Astronomers discover doomed planet shedding a Mount Everest's worth of material every orbit, leaving behind a comet-like tail

Jupiter: Facts about the biggest planet in our solar system

'I won't be surprised if this is happening throughout the universe': Mushball storms on Jupiter offer clues to atmospheres of distant planets

Saturn: Facts about the ringed planet

Mysterious, out-of-place 'Skull' rock on Mars leaves scientists baffled

Life on Mars could survive — so long as you're one of these strange, hybrid lifeforms

See Venus at its 'greatest brilliancy' this week — or wait until Sept. 2026

Curiosity rover finds largest carbon chains on Mars from 3.7 billion-year-old rock

The Moon