Astronomy
- Astronomy
Inquiries about the moon’s twilight zone, and more reader feedback
Readers had questions about the moon's tidal locking, quantum communication, microneedles and more.
- Astronomy
As Cassini’s tour of Saturn draws to a close, a look back at postcards from the probe
As Cassini prepares to plunge to its death, we celebrate the spacecraft's discoveries and breathtaking images of Saturn, its rings and moons.
- Astronomy
These chip-sized spacecraft are the smallest space probes yet
Space initiative dubbed Breakthrough Starshot sent the smallest spacecraft yet into orbit around Earth.
- Astronomy
On a mountain in Wyoming, the eclipse brings wonder — and, hopefully, answers
Astronomy writer Lisa Grossman joined scientists on a mountain in Wyoming who were measuring the corona using four different instruments to try to figure out why it’s so hot.
- Astronomy
Eclipse watchers will go after the biggest solar mystery: Why is the corona so hot?
Usually when you move away from a heat source, it gets cooler. Not so in the sun’s atmosphere.
- Astronomy
Does the corona look different when solar activity is high versus when it’s low?
Carbondale, Ill., will get two eclipses in a row, seven years apart — making it the perfect spot to watch the solar cycle in action.
- Astronomy
Cosmic lens lets astronomers zoom in on a black hole’s burps
The beginnings of a jet from an active black hole in a distant galaxy were spotted thanks to a lucky alignment.
- Astronomy
Here are the paths of the next 15 total solar eclipses
From 2017 to 2040, there will be 15 total solar eclipses. Here's a map of where to see them.
- Astronomy
We share the Milky Way with 100 million black holes
New census calculates black hole populations in galaxies big and small.
- Astronomy
Where does the solar wind come from? The eclipse may offer answers
A quick-fire polarization camera should help scientists detect the origins of the solar wind during the Aug. 21 eclipse.
- Astronomy
Eclipses show wrong physics can give right results
Math for making astronomical predictions doesn’t necessarily reflect physical reality.
- Astronomy
Why are the loops in the sun’s atmosphere so neat and tidy?
Observations during the total solar eclipse may explain why the sun’s atmosphere is so organized despite arising from a tangled magnetic field.
