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Someone using one of the best telescopes
Best telescopes 2025: Observe galaxies, nebulas and planets Find the best telescopes to unlock the wonders of the night sky and view lunar occultations, celestial conjunctions and planetary parades in January.
Huge, red "super-Jupiter" exoplanet orbits its star.
What's the largest planet in the universe? Astronomers have found planets that are twice as wide as Jupiter and more than 10 times as heavy, but there's a limit to how big planets can get.
An artist's illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope.
James Webb Space Telescope quiz: How well do you know the world's most powerful telescope? The James Webb Space Telescope can look deeper (and earlier) into the cosmos than any telescope before it. How much do you know about this wonder of technology and its incredible findings?

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A winter scene with a single tree covered in snow and a full moon

The full Wolf Moon rises tonight (Jan. 13). Here's how to watch it block Mars from the sky.

By Jamie Carter published

The Wolf Moon — the first full moon of the year and of winter in the Northern Hemisphere — rises tonight, but will be best seen on Jan. 14, shortly after it has occulted Mars.

The Moon
Photomontage of tubes containing Martian samples that NASA plans to bring back to Earth.

Mars rock samples may contain evidence of alien life, but can NASA get them back to Earth?

By Patrick Pester published

NASA will explore two different strategies for fetching Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover, and there's a chance these samples contain evidence of alien life.

Mars
Around Earth, an invisible magnetic field traps electrons and other charged particles.

New NASA robot with X-ray vision will watch Earth 'breathing' from the moon

By Ben Turner published

NASA's LEXI instrument is set to land on the moon's surface sometime this month. Using X-ray sensors, the device will watch Earth's atmosphere "breathing out and breathing in" to uncover key space weather mysteries.

Space Exploration
Illustration of a wooden square satellite as it orbits the earth.

NASA and Japan launch world's 1st wooden satellite into orbit. Here's why it could help solve a huge problem for our planet.

By Ben Turner last updated

NASA and Japan's space agency (JAXA) have officially launched the world's first wooden satellite into Earth orbit. The magnolia wood LignoSat is an attempt to make space junk biodegradable, potentially solving the growing problem of orbital debris.

Space Exploration
An artistic image of the outline of the human body in front of a cosmic image

Most of the atoms in your body left the Milky Way on a 'cosmic conveyor belt' long before you were born, new study reveals

By Harry Baker published

New research suggests that most of the atoms within the human body likely spent part of their lives drifting beyond the Milky Way on a cosmic "conveyor belt," before eventually returning to our galaxy.

Cosmology
A photo of the ATLAS comet in the night sky

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

By Jamie Carter published

Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3 is set to dazzle Southern Hemisphere skywatchers in mid-January. Here’s everything you need to know about the 'New Year comet'.

Comets
A photo of deep space with an elongated arc of warped light from a galaxy in the center

James Webb telescope spies record-breaking hoard of stars hiding in a warped 'dragon' galaxy

By Harry Baker published

Photos from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed more than 40 stars within the gravitationally lensed "Dragon Arc" galaxy, 6.5 billion light-years from Earth. It is the largest group of individually imaged stars ever seen at such a distance.

Cosmology
An illustration of an astronaut sitting in a lounge chair on the moon

What temperature is the moon?

By Elana Spivack published

An astronomer describes how the moon's surface temperature changes.

The Moon
Montage of NASA Hubble Space Telescope views of our solar system's four giant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, each shown in enhanced color.

Space photo of the week: Hubble celebrates 10 years of hunting giants

By Shreejaya Karantha published

Behold, the giants! The Hubble Space Telescope has completed a decade of observing Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Space
Kenyan men stand around a large metal ring

Massive piece of space junk crashes into village in Kenya — and officials still have no idea where it came from

By Joanna Thompson published

A 1,100-pound metal ring from a rocket smashed in to a Kenyan village, where it startled residents and flattened trees

Space
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