There are so many problems, all across planet Earth, that harm and threaten humanity. Why invest in researching the Universe?

Although American Thanksgiving only comes once a year, the scientific rules that make our Universe possible are always worth appreciating.

The far side of the Moon is incredibly different from the Earth-facing side. 66 years later, we know why the Moon's faces are not alike.

Everything ever seen — every star, mountain, and face — makes up less than 5 percent of the universe. Astrophysicist Janna Levin reminds us that the rest — dark matter and dark energy — is invisible, mysterious, and everywhere. We are the luminous exception in a universe of darkness.

Such massive, early supermassive black holes have puzzled astronomers for decades. At last, we've finally figured out how they form.

Every observation out into deep space is also a look back in time.

One side of the Moon always faces us: the near side. The "dark side" of the Moon began as a mere metaphor, but today, science can weigh in.

Spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars are all more common than ring galaxies. At last, we know how these ultra-rare objects are made.

Wavelengths stretch, distances grow, and temperatures cool as the Universe expands with time. How are the various cosmic parameters related?

Weird-looking galaxies, with tentacle-like tails or prominent dual streams, appear like jellyfish or bunny ears. But that’s just the start.

For over 10 billion years, the cosmic star-formation rate has been dropping and dropping. Someday, the final star in the Universe will die.

In 2017, a kilonova sent light and gravitational waves across the Universe. Here on Earth, there was a 1.7 second signal arrival delay. Why?

What if the first search for life beyond Earth actually succeeded?

Planets grow from protostellar material in disks, leading to full-grown planetary systems in time. At last, the final gap has been filled.

Stellar streams are faint trails of stars that appear to "stream" out of galaxies. A new one, escaping galaxy M61, may point to many others.

When dying, Sun-like stars have binary companions, spectacular sights arise from the ionization. JWST spots the Red Spider Nebula in action!

Scientists are notoriously resistant to new ideas. Are they falling prey to groupthink? Or are our current theories just that successful?

Nearly 100 years after being theorized, the strange behavior of the neutrino still mystifies us. They could be even stranger than we know.

Red dwarfs are the Universe's most common star type. Their flaring now makes potentially Earth-like worlds uninhabitable, but just you wait.

Found by Hubble before JWST's launch, GNz7q looked like a mix of a galaxy and a quasar. Was it actually our first known "little red dot"?

“Deep down the natural endpoint of this whole goal of looking for planets is to answer the question: are we alone?”

The whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts; that's a flaw in our thinking. Non-reductionism requires magic, not merely science.

The Orionids meteor shower peaks October 20th/21st here in 2025, coinciding with a new Moon. See the brightest shooting stars of the year!

To learn how our Universe grew up, we have to look at large numbers of galaxies at all distances to find out. Good thing we have JWST!

Our Sun only arose after 9.2 billion years of cosmic history: with many stars living and dying first. How many prior generations were there?

Since the time of Galileo, Saturn's rings have remained an unexplained mystery. A new idea may have finally solved the longstanding puzzle.

By deeply imaging a large volume of space, COSMOS-Web provides JWST's widest cosmic views. Its gravitational lenses reveal a big surprise.

"Could black holes be the key to a quantum theory of gravity, a deeper theory of how reality, of how space and time works? Well, I think so."

From here on Earth, looking farther away in space means looking farther back in time. So what are distant Earth-watchers seeing right now?

As October begins, thousands of longtime NASA employees are leaving the agency. 4000+ will exit by January 9, 2026, changing NASA forever.