The trans-Neptunian object nicknamed Ammonite moves across the sky over several hours in May 2023. Its diameter is estimated to be between about 135 and 235 miles.

Cool Finds

Astronomers Discover ‘Ammonite,’ a Mysterious Distant Object That Could Shed Light on Our Solar System’s History

The celestial body’s unusual orbit “implies that something extraordinary occurred” in the early days of the solar system—and throws a wrench in the Planet Nine idea

An image from the ALMA telescope array in Chile shows jets of silicon monoxide blowing away from the young star HOPS-315. The blue jet is moving towards Earth, and the red jet is moving away from us.

For the First Time, Astronomers Capture ‘Smoking Gun’ of Early Solar System Formation

Telescopes detected the first stages of hot minerals condensing from gas around a young star called HOPS-315

The meteorites could open up a new avenue to understand Mercury, pictured, which is notoriously hard to study due to its proximity to the sun.

Scientists Have Never Confirmed a Meteorite From Mercury. Could These Space Rocks From the Desert Be the First?

Two meteorites found in the Sahara show tantalizing similarities to the innermost planet, and while researchers say they are likely not direct samples, “one cannot rule out” the idea

The comet 3I/ATLAS moves against a backdrop of stars. The ATLAS survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, was the first to report that the object came from interstellar space.

A Rare Interstellar Object Is Blazing Through Our Solar System, Marking Only the Third Cosmic Visitor on Record

The comet follows just two other deep space objects documented by astronomers in 2017 and 2019

This image of the the Trifid nebula (top) and the Lagoon nebula (bottom) was put together from 678 separate images taken over seven hours of observations.

See the First Breathtaking Images Captured by the Powerful New Telescope at the Rubin Observatory

Featuring never-before-seen views of galaxies and more than 2,100 newly discovered asteroids, the observations are only a taste of what to expect from the telescope’s upcoming decade-long survey

The sun’s corona on May 23, 2025, as imaged by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3. The hair-like structures appeared with the help of an image processing algorithm.

See the Beauty of an Artificial Solar Eclipse, Created With a First-of-Its-Kind, ‘Perfect’ Satellite Formation

Two satellites’ highly precise alignment allows scientists to study the sun’s outer atmosphere like never before

The Solar Orbiter has captured the first-ever views of the sun's south pole.

See the First-Ever Direct Images of the Sun’s South Pole, Captured by the Solar Orbiter Spacecraft

The spacecraft’s tilted orbit will allow scientists to investigate the mechanisms behind space weather that impact crucial human activity on Earth

An artistic rendering of the Odyssey spacecraft in orbit over Mars. 

NASA Spacecraft Orbiting Mars Captures Image of Giant Ancient Volcano Just Before Dawn

The perspective is what astronauts would see out their window if there was an International Space Station flying around the red planet

Scientists captured the highest-resolution images of the sun’s corona to date. The plasma is artificially colorized in the image, with darker pink colors corresponding to brighter light.

See the Highest-Resolution Views of the Sun’s Corona, as Wisps of Plasma Dance in Crystal Clear Detail

Astronomers have captured videos of the sun without the typical blur caused by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere

The five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union are Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake—and these are pictured with 2017 OF201 in a telescope image.

Astronomers Discover a Possible Dwarf Planet Far Beyond Neptune, Where There Should Have Only Been Empty Space

As it orbits the sun once every 25,000 years, the celestial body 2017 OF201 travels beyond the Kuiper Belt into a region thought to be largely devoid of objects

Enceladus (center) orbits Saturn in this 2007 image captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Should Scientists Inject Saturn’s Moon Enceladus With Life?

A new study proposes that seeding the orb’s underground ocean with microbes might help us learn how to make other worlds habitable

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of extreme solar activity on May 10, 2024.

The U.S. Ran Its First Space Weather Preparedness Drill—Here’s How It Went

Ironically, the exercise last May was interrupted by a real scenario, when Earth was hit by the strongest solar storm in two decades

An artistic rendering of one of the Voyager probes.

NASA Engineers Revive Long-Dormant Thrusters on Voyager 1, the Farthest Spacecraft From Earth, in a ‘Miracle Save’

In the nick of time, NASA teams addressed clogging issues in the probe’s backup roll thrusters, before the only antenna capable of sending commands to it went offline

The sun launched a powerful solar flare on May 14, 2025, captured here by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Sun Launches Its Strongest Solar Flare of the Year So Far, Causing Radio Blackouts Around the World

The new sunspot responsible for this powerful blast is rotating into view, which could bring more solar activity—and potential aurora-causing coronal mass ejections—to Earth in the coming days

The first image in visible light of green auroras on Mars (left), compared to the night sky of Mars without auroras.

See the First Visible Auroras Captured on Mars, Glowing a Hazy Green Above the Planet

Scientists directed NASA’s Perseverance rover to take an image of the Martian sky after a solar storm in hopes that an aurora would show up

These observations of Jupiter’s auroras (shown on the left of the above image) were captured with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera on December 25, 2023.

Check Out Jupiter’s Stunning Auroras, Which Are Hundreds of Times Brighter Than Earth’s, in the James Webb Telescope’s Latest Images

The infrared views, captured in 2023, shed light on the giant planet’s atmosphere and magnetosphere—but they also reveal something unexpected

Workers prepare Venera 4, a Soviet space probe, for its flight to Venus' atmosphere in 1967.

A Soviet Spacecraft Is About to Crash Back to Earth After Being Stuck in Orbit for 53 Years

The Cosmos 482 lander was intended to reach Venus, but it has instead been circling Earth since 1972

The asteroid Donaldjohanson, captured by NASA's Lucy spacecraft on Sunday. 

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Just Flew by a Strange, Peanut-Shaped Asteroid. See the New Images From the Approach

The close-up views of asteroid Donaldjohanson are a preview of what’s to come for Lucy on its 12-year quest to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids

The far side of the moon—seen here, captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter—could be much drier than expected.

The Moon’s Far Side Is Strangely Dry—Lunar Samples Suggest It’s Much More Parched Than the Side That Faces Earth

Chinese researchers analyzed the first-ever soil samples returned from the far side of the moon, but further samples will be needed to verify their findings

Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) captured from California. 

A Newly Discovered and Brilliantly Green Comet Is Dazzling Astronomers. Here’s What to Know About the Glowing Celestial Visitor

Initial observations suggest the comet, called C/2025 F2 (SWAN), will continue getting brighter as it approaches the sun. Northern Hemisphere viewers with binoculars can currently spot it in early morning skies

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