News from Astronomy

Your source for the latest news on planets, stars, galaxies, cosmology, observing events, space missions, and more.

Latest Astronomy News

Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the American flag on the Moon. The footprints of the astronauts are visible in the soil of the Moon. Neil A. Armstrong took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera. Credit: NASA.

Human Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

July 13, 1969: Luna 15 launches

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

July 12, 1988: Phobos 2 launches

Astronomy for beginners, Observing, Observing Basics

Michael’s Miscellany: The Eyes Have It

Today in the History of Astronomy

July 11, 1801: Jean-Louis Pons finds his first comet

Deep-Sky Objects

Deep-Sky Dreams: NGC 3079 and Quasar 0957+561

Human Spaceflight, Space Exploration

Behind the scenes of NASA’s Project Gemini: Astronomy chats with Jeffrey Kluger

Today in the History of Astronomy

July 10, 1856: The birth of Nicola Tesla

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

July 9, 1979: Voyager 2’s Jupiter visit

Today in the History of Astronomy

July 8, 1992: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks up

This Week in Astronomy

This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Moon passes Antares

Exotic Objects, Stars

‘Strange binary’: Astronomers discover a pulsar and a helium star orbiting each other

Mars Exploration Rover

Robotic Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

July 7, 2003: Opportunity launches

Today in the History of Astronomy

July 6, 1982: The longest lunar eclipse of the century

Today in the History of Astronomy

July 5, 1687: Newton’s Principia is published

Human Spaceflight

Miso fermented in space has a unique flavor

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS appears as a clear but faint dot in the middle of this monochrome image, surrounded by slightly streaked stars.

Milky Way, Solar System

Astronomers race to learn more about third interstellar visitor

Galaxies, Milky Way

How weird is the Milky Way?

Today in the History of Astronomy

July 4, 1054: The Crab Nebula supernova explodes

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from July 4 to 11: Celebrate with fireworks

Deep-Sky Objects

Deep-Sky Dreams: NGC 3718 and NGC 3729

Comets, Solar System

Third interstellar visitor discovered racing through our solar system

Browse by category

This artist’s conception illustrates one of the most primitive supermassive black holes known (central black dot) at the core of a young, star-rich galaxy. Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have uncovered two of these early objects, dating back to about 13 billion years ago. The monstrous black holes are among the most distant known, and appear to be in the very earliest stages of formation, earlier than any observed so far. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Science

Explore the science of space, from the astrophysics of stars to the ultimate fate of the universe.

Credit: Tim Doucette.

Observing

Learn about upcoming observing events such as eclipses, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, and more.

This 2016 Curiosity rover selfie shows the vehicle at the “Okoruso” drilling site on Mount Sharp’s Naukluft Plateau. The Martian scene is a mosaic of images taken with the arm-mounted Mars Hands Lens Imager (MAHLI). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

Space Exploration

Human and robotic missions are helping humanity explore our solar system and beyond.

Sky This Week

The sky on July 16, 2025, 2 hours before sunrise, looking southeast

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from July 11 to 18: The Moon hangs with Saturn and Neptune

Sky This Month

Venus, Aldebaran, and the Hyades

July 2025: What’s in the sky this month? Venus tracks through Taurus, more Titan transits at Saturn, and Jupiter reappears

Picture of the Day

High-altitude shower

Xiaofeng Qu, taken from Lijiang, Yunnan, China

The Geminid meteor shower appears to rain down upon the Gaomeigu Astronomical Observatory (altitude: 10,500 feet [3,200 meters]) in this carefully composed 10-panel panorama. Also visible are numerous Hα features glowing across the sky, like the Orion Loop just above the observatory dome. The imager used 4 Nikon mirrorless cameras and a variety of wide-angle lenses to capture the meteor streaks.

Product Recommendations

Visit The Space Store