Magazine

Stars

I read that once every second, somewhere in the universe a massive star ends its life as a supernova. How does that compare to the rate of new star formation?

The Moon

The Reiner swirl

Exoplanets, Human Spaceflight, Planets, Robotic Spaceflight, Solar System

Why won’t the new Horizons spacecraft stop or slow down when it gets to Pluto?

Astrophotography

Web Extra: Capturing a colorful sky

Deep-Sky Objects

Two perspectives

Exoplanets, Planets, Solar System

Shadow secrets

Human Spaceflight

Why doesn’t the International Space Station rotate to create artificial gravity like stations in the movies?

Astrophotography

Color space

Exoplanets, Planets, Solar System, The Moon

Jupiter shines brilliantly

Stars

What’s in a name?

Exotic Objects, Stars

If a supernova’s original star is massive enough to form a black hole, why is there any explosion? Why doesn’t the entire mass of the original star simply fall onto the newly formed black hole and instantly vanish?

Stars

Web Extra: What makes stars tick?