Harry Baker

A tiny, previously undisclosed lunar rover has been spotted strapped to the side of China's moon-bound Chang'e 6 lander in newly released pre-launch photos. The true purpose of the rover, which is scheduled to land on the moon's far side, remains a mystery.

Earth from space A puzzling arc was spotted in the water of a Greenland fjord littered with iceberg fragments. There are a couple of possible explanations for this bizarre phenomenon but we will likely never know what caused it, experts say.

Mars has had frequent planet-wide auroras in recent months, including an unprecedented trio of events in February. Experts say the sudden increase is the result of the ongoing solar maximum.

Artificial intelligence trained by asteroid-hunting citizen scientists helped identify more than 1,000 never-before-seen solar system objects from old Hubble images spanning two decades.

Earth from space A satellite image of the Galápagos Islands' La Cumbre volcano shows lava seeping from the iguana-covered mountain days into an ongoing, months-long eruption.

In the early hours of Tuesday (April 23), quadruple solar flares near-simultaneously exploded from across the sun's surface, and there's a good chance that one of these outbursts launched a solar storm toward Earth.

On April 10, a bright red atmospheric "hole" was spotted in the night sky above Texas shortly after SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites into space. It is the latest example of an increasingly common phenomenon caused by the company's dying rockets.

Earth from space Three closely grouped lakes in Ethiopia's Great Rift Valley have distinctly different hues thanks to a combination of unique features.

A surprise coronal mass ejection recently smashed into Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, briefly causing the "devil comet" to lose its tail — and a NASA spacecraft caught the whole thing on camera.

During the historic April 8 total solar eclipse, a government radio station in Colorado started sending out slightly shifted "time signals" to millions of people across the globe as the moon's shadow altered the upper layers of our atmosphere. However, these altered signals did not actually change the time.

At least nine beavers and a vole have been found dead in Utah after an unusual outbreak of tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, which can infect and kill humans, cats and dogs. Experts warn people to be wary of ticks, which can transmit the disease across species.

The James Webb Space Telescope discovered an inexplicably dense galaxy inside an "Einstein ring" last year. Now, researchers think they can explain this cosmic conundrum.

The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks between April 21 and 22 this year, potentially offering views of hundreds of shooting stars and rare "fireballs." Here's where and when to catch the cosmic light show.

NASA's stranded Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has beamed back its final signal to Earth from the Red Planet, which included a farewell message for mission scientists. It will continue collecting data on Mars until it dies but will not transmit this data to Earth.

Orcas that attack and sink boats in southwestern Europe have been spotted circling a vessel in Spain, hundreds of miles from where they should currently be. And scientists can't explain why.

During the recent total solar eclipse on April 8, scientists and other observers spotted some strange things in the sky and on the ground. Here are some of our favorites.

The 2,000-foot-wide asteroid 2013 NK4 just made its closest approach to Earth in recorded history, sailing by at about eight lunar distances. You can still see the massive rock with a backyard telescope.

New data suggest that exoplanet WASP-76 b could harbor a massive, rainbow-colored light show known as a "glory." Until now, this phenomenon has been seen only within our solar system.

Strange radio signals coming from a magnetar that "woke up" after more than a decade of radio silence cannot be explained by our current understanding of the universe's strongest magnets, hinting at a puzzling new phenomenon.

Several media outlets have incorrectly claimed that explosive solar flares were spotted during the April 8 total solar eclipse. But there were no flares during totality, so what did people see?

On April 8, just a few hours before the total solar eclipse, an amateur astronomer discovered a small "sungrazer" comet in close proximity to our home star. The newfound object was photographed during totality before disintegrating into nothingness later the same day.

Satellite images show the moon's gigantic shadow sweeping across North America during the April 8 total solar eclipse. Astronauts on board the ISS also captured stunning shots of the enormous dark patch.

A new study warns that 5,000 meteorites could be sinking beneath Antarctica's icy surface every year as a result of climate change, depriving scientists of vital information about our solar system.

Despite nearing its most active period, the sun is unusually inactive right now and may not wake up again before the total solar eclipse on Monday (April 8). How will this impact our view of the spectacle?

New images show a glowing "dashed" line in the night sky above Arizona after part of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fell back to Earth following a double-header launch.