Astronomy

  1. Cosmology

    Year in Review: Dark energy gets more confusing

    New data raise the prospect of a ‘Big Rip’ destroying the cosmos.

    By Gabriel Popkin
  2. Planetary Science

    Year in Review: Methane shortage on Mars

    A trace of the gas is not enough to be a sign of life.

    By Erin Wayman
  3. Astronomy

    Year in Review: Death of a planet hunter

    The Kepler space telescope finishes a brilliant career.

    By Andrew Grant
  4. Astronomy

    Year in Review: Voyager 1 reaches interstellar space

    The planetary probe is the first human-made object to break out of the heliosphere.

    By Andrew Grant
  5. Cosmology

    Year in Review: Planck refines cosmic history

    The satellite data hint at a slower expansion rate for universe.

    By Andrew Grant
  6. Astronomy

    Exoplanet dangerously close to demise

    Kepler-91b could be on the brink of death — at least on astronomical time scales.

    By Ashley Yeager
  7. Planetary Science

    Exoplanet mass revealed in light

    A new method could help identify habitable planets.

    By Andrew Grant
  8. Astronomy

    Gaia spacecraft launches to map Milky Way

    The ESA spacecraft blasted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:12 am EST.

    By Ashley Yeager
  9. Planetary Science

    Sinkholes, tectonics may have shaped Titan’s lakes and seas

    A map of Saturn’s largest moon reveals clues about the object's landscape.

    By Meghan Rosen
  10. Astronomy

    Milky Way may indeed have four spiral arms

    In 2008, the galaxy lost two of its spiral arms. But it may be getting them back.

    By Ashley Yeager
  11. Astronomy

    China’s Chang’e-3 craft lands on the moon

    The unmanned Chang’e-3 lunar lander and Yutu rover have made it to the moon's surface.

    By Ashley Yeager
  12. Planetary Science

    Europa vents water, Hubble data suggest

    Plumes from ice-covered oceans would increase likelihood of life-friendly conditions on one moon of Jupiter.

    By Andrew Grant