Watching the heavens on a nightly, or even casual basis? The web and modern technology has certainly altered the landscape of modern astronomy, (mostly) for the better. Once, we all huddled around cardboard planispheres, illuminated by red flashlights; now, it's now a common sight to see illuminated smartphone apps accompanying telescopes at star parties, all waving skyward with virtual planetarium programs guiding users around the night sky.
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As part of their plan to establish an "international lunar village" on the Moon in the coming decades, the ESA is experimenting with making bricks out of lunar dust simulants.
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According to a new study by a Canadian-led team of researchers, the atmospheric phenomena known as STEVE is not an aurora, but something else entirely.
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A new study by an international team of researchers indicates that "mini-moons" will soon be detectable, and could provide opportunities for research and asteroid mining.
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Lockheed Martin recently provided a first-look at the space habitat they are designing, as part of NASA's program to return astronauts to the Moon and sending crewed missions to Mars.
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According to a new study by an international team of researchers, a good way to look for signs on life on exoplanets would be toe examine the ejected material of asteroid impacts.
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Using the Subaru Telescope, a team of astronomers recently probed a 500 light-year region of the early Universe and found that it contained less galaxies than they were expecting.
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A periodic comet may put on a fine show for northern hemisphere viewers over the next few months.
Comet 21/P Giacobini-Zinner is currently a fine binocular comet shining at +8th magnitude and cruising across the constellation Cassiopeia. This places it above the horizon for the entire night for observers north of the equator in August, transiting the local meridian at local dawn.
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A new study by a team from the University of Pennsylvania suggests using maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) to find evidence of extra-solar Oort Clouds (EXOCs).
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A team from the University of Manchester recently tested their prototype for a spinning heat shield, a lightweight, compact design that could provide cost-effective protection for future space missions.
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The Parker Solar Probe, which will spend the next seven years getting closer to the Sun than any previous mission, recently launched from Cape Canaveral.
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The Martian dust storm that has been raging for months finally appears to be subsiding, though it will still be some time before contact can be reestablished with Opportunity.
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Before commencing its mission to find exoplanets, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite took some impressive images of a comet in our Solar System.
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170 years after the star Eta Carinae erupted and became the second brightest star in the galaxy, astronomers now have a theory for what caused this.
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In a new study, a team from Caltech recently used the Very Large Array to confirm that a rogue planet just 20 light years away is on the cusp between being a planet and a brown dwarf
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The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), a revolutionary new radio telescope, recently made its first-ever detection of a possible Fast Radio Burst (FRB)
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How about that Total Lunar Eclipse this past July 13th? It has been a busy year for astronomy for sure, with two total lunar eclipses, a comet fading out from an unexpected burst of glory and Saturn, Jupiter and Mars reaching opposition in quick succession.
Now, watch for a rare event, with the final eclipse for 2018 coming up on Saturday, August 11th, with a partial solar eclipse spanning northern Europe and the Arctic.
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According to a new study, it is possible that extra-solar planets with no plate tectonics might be capable of supporting life, contrary to previous assumptions.
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As part of their 3D-Printed Habitat Centennial Challenge, NASA recently awarded five teams with a total of $100,000 for their designs for Martian habitats.
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The Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL), which was installed aboard the ISS this past May, just reached a milestone by creating ultracold particles for the first time in space.
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The Fenix propulsion system, a pen-sized thruster designed by Italian tech company D-Orbit, could revolutionize the way CubeSats operate in orbit.
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According to a new NASA-supported study, Mars does not have enough carbon dioxide to undergo the terraforming process
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According to a new study from the Earth-Life Science Institute, it may be time to fine-tune what astronomers mean by "habitable zone"
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The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing the Cosmos is our practical book on how to get into astronomy, written by David Dickinson with Fraser Cain. It's filled with everything you need to become an amateur astronomer, with hundreds of photographs taken by other amateurs.
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For the first time in history, Einstein's theory of General Relativity was confirmed by observing a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy
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Comets are one of those great question marks in observational astronomy. Though we can plot their orbits thanks to Newton and Kepler, just how bright they'll be and whether or not they will fizzle or fade is always a big unknown, especially if they're a dynamic newcomer from the outer solar system just visiting the inner solar system for the first time.
We had just such a surprise from a cosmic visitor over the past few weeks, as comet C/2017 S3 PanSTARRS erupted twice, brightening into binocular visibility.
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The Hubble Space Telescope took advantage of the fact that both Saturn and Mars are at opposition this summer and snapped some of the clearest and most beautiful images of them yet.
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A new study led by NASA's Ames Research Center has indicated that microorganisms are not likely to survive in Mars' dry environment, but could be preserved there.
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Using 13 years of data obtained by Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), the Cassini imaging team has produced some of the most detailed images of Titan to date.
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According to a new study by a European team, the Moon may have been habitable during two periods in the past.
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A new analysis of 15 years of data from the Mars Express probe by a team of Italian scientists shows compelling evidence for their being liquid water beneath Mars southern polar region.
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According to a new study by a team from the University of Michigan, Andromeda survived a merger with a massive galaxy 2 billion years ago.
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One of the top astronomy events of 2018 occurs on the evening of Friday, July 27th, when the Moon enters the shadow of the Earth for a total lunar eclipse. In the vernacular that is the modern internet, this is what's becoming popular as a "Blood Moon," a time when the Moon reddens due to the refracted light of a thousand sunsets falling on it as the pass through the ruddy limb of the Earth.
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Thanks to a new study led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, future missions to Europa will be more likely to find spots in the moon's ice sheet where biosignatures still exist.
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Using advanced adaptive optics, the ESO's Very Large Telescope was able to capture pictures of Neptune, star clusters and other objects with even greater clarity than Hubble
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The ESA recently released stunning photos of a Martian storm front, which were acquired by the Mars Express orbiter in April of 2018.
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A new study led by Scott S. Sheppard has discovered 12 more moons around Jupiter, which could scientists a great deal about the history of the Solar System.
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When the James Webb Space Telescope is deployed, it will study and characterize the atmospheres of gas giants, with the eventual goal of focusing on potentially-habitable exoplanets.
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Have you been checking out Mars this season? Mars reaches opposition on July 27th at 5:00 Universal Time (UT) shining at magnitude -2.8 and appearing 24.3" across—nearly as large as it can appear, and the largest since the historic opposition of 2003. We won't have an opposition this favorable again until September 15th, 2035.
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Using data from the Juno spacecraft, a team of scientists found a heat source on Io that could be a previously-undiscovered volcano.
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A new study used data from both Hubble and Gaia in order to obtain the most precise measurements of cosmic expansion to date.
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A new study by a team from NASA JPL has shown how Europa's interior ocean rises to the surface slowly over time, creating "fossil material" on the surface.
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According to a recent study by an international team of researchers, Jupiter's moons of Io and Ganymede leave "footprints" in the planets powerful aurorae.
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In recognition of their efforts to communicate the importance of the Cassini mission, NASA's JPL recently received an Emmy nomination for their Cassini Grande Finale campaign.
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