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

'Rainbow on fire': Venus transforms into colorful crescent as it approaches its closest point to Earth

4 tiny, Earth-like planets found circling 2nd-closest star system to us — and could be visited by future human generations

Scientists find evidence of 'supernova graveyard' at the bottom of the sea — and possibly on the surface of the moon

Solar eclipse glasses: Where to buy a safe, certified pair before the March 29 eclipse

March 29 solar eclipse: Where and when to see the rare sunrise solar eclipse from North America

Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind

Space photo of the week: James Webb telescope's view of the Flame Nebula is a 'quantum leap' forward for astronomers

Explore Astronomy

Asteroids

Black Holes

Comets

Cosmology

Meteoroids

Planets

The Moon

The Sun

Asteroids

'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

Potentially hazardous asteroids: How many dangerous space rocks lurk near Earth — and can we stop them?

In emergency decision, James Webb telescope will study 'city-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 before its close approach to Earth

Watch potential 'city-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 as it hurtles through space

'City-killer' asteroid has a 1-in-43 chance of smashing into Earth in 2032, NASA says

Black Holes

Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind

Evidence for Stephen Hawking's unproven black hole theory may have just been found — at the bottom of the sea

Unproven Einstein theory of 'gravitational memory' may be real after all, new study hints

'Cosmic Horseshoe' may contain black hole the size of 36 billion suns — one of the largest ever detected

Scientists may have just discovered 300 of the rarest black holes in the universe

James Webb Space Telescope discovers mysterious flares near the Milky Way's monster black hole

'We were amazed': Astronomers discover oldest, biggest black hole jet in the known universe — and there may be more

Astronomers catch black holes 'cooking' their own meals in bizarre, endless feeding cycle

Scientists discover black holes spinning unexpectedly fast: 'You’re essentially looking at its fossil record'

Comets

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

Watch the 'Halloween comet' ATLAS burn up as it flies into the sun

Rare illusion gives 'once-in-a-lifetime' comet a seemingly impossible 2nd tail after closest approach to Earth for 80,000 years

Cosmology

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

The universe's water is billions of years older than scientists thought — and may be nearly as old as the Big Bang itself

Most powerful cosmic rays in the universe start shockingly close to Earth, paper claims

Euclid telescope spots rare 'Einstein ring' hiding near Earth — and an ancient, unnamed galaxy behind it

A cosmic 'CT scan' shows the universe is far more complex than expected

1st supernovas may have flooded the early universe with water — making life possible just 100 million years after the Big Bang

'Herculean' 2.5-billion-pixel mosaic shows our closest galactic neighbor like never before — and took more than a decade to create

'Our model of cosmology might be broken': New study reveals the universe is expanding too fast for physics to explain

Rare string of 'cosmic pearls' dance together in the universe

Meteoroids

'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

Most of Earth's meteorites may have come from the same 3 spots

Watch huge fireball blaze over Lake Erie in stunning videos

Planets

'Rainbow on fire': Venus transforms into colorful crescent as it approaches its closest point to Earth

4 tiny, Earth-like planets found circling 2nd-closest star system to us — and could be visited by future human generations

James Webb telescope spots 'rogue' planet with a cake-like atmosphere barrelling through space without a star

Saturn gains 128 new moons, giving it more than the rest of the solar system combined

'Planet parade' ends with a rare conjunction of Venus and Mercury at sunset. Here's how to watch.

'Utterly cataclysmic': James Webb telescope spots 2 alien planets disintegrating before our eyes

Mars was once a 'vacation-style' beach planet, Chinese rover scans reveal

Mars' red color explained by surprising new research

Exoplanet with iron rain has violent winds 'like something out of science fiction'

The Moon