Space

Photography and astronomy offer humanity a fascinating view into the universe.
An astronaut in a spacesuit works outside the International Space Station, surrounded by large solar panels and equipment, with the darkness of space in the background.

Portrait of Space-Walking Astronaut Suni Williams Is Mind-Boggling

Since veteran astronaut and fantastic photographer Don Pettit returned from his record-setting fifth expedition to space in April, he has been regularly sharing photos he captured aboard the ISS. His most recent one is a remarkable portrait of his fellow astronaut, Sunita "Suni" Williams, floating in space during her ninth spacewalk. The International Space Station's (ISS) solar array is in the background, delivering an incredible sense of scale.

A group of engineers in white cleanroom suits stand in front of a large spacecraft with folded solar panels (left); a close-up of blue-tinted square sensors on a metallic frame (right).

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Will Explore Billions of Galaxies With 288MP Camera

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) has been fully assembled, a momentous occasion for the scientists, engineers, and technicians who have spent years working on the telescope. It is also a significant achievement for humanity at large. Once the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope takes flight, it will peer into the cosmos and capture images and data of 80,000 supernovae, 100 billion stars, billions of galaxies, and hundreds of black holes, helping unravel the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter.

A deep space image showing numerous galaxies and stars scattered across a dark background, with an inset zoom highlighting a bright blue glowing area within a specific galaxy.

Images of Ultra-Rare Cosmic Calamity Unravel a Longstanding Mystery

Last year, astronomers discovered the brightest Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) ever observed. A complete understanding of this type of event, an exceptionally bright blue flash that quickly fades, has long eluded scientists. However, a new analysis of the brightest burst last year has unlocked key insights into the event, and scientists now believe the blue cosmic outburst is caused by black holes shredding massive cosmic companions, like stars.

Side-by-side satellite images show a rugged yellow and brown coastline on the left and icy, purple and green terrain on the right, highlighting different landscape features from above.

These Are Some of the Highest-Resolution Radar Images Ever Taken

The European Space Agency's (ESA) brand-new Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite launched into space aboard the Ariane 6 launcher from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. ESA has shared the satellite's first high-resolution images, which are spectacular examples of the power of radar-based imaging systems.

A bright, glowing star surrounded by swirling red, orange, and yellow gas clouds in space, with distant stars scattered across a dark background and a blue star in the lower left corner.

Webb Captures First-of-its-Kind Image of One-of-a-Kind Triple Star System

The NASA/CSA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope can add yet another "first" to its growing list of achievements. Using its mid-infrared camera, Webb detected four shells of dust around the unique triple-star Apep system. Prior images have shown just a single shell. One researcher likens Webb's imaging capabilities to turning on the light in a room that has always been dark.

A deep space image shows a field of distant galaxies on the left, with a zoomed-in section on the right highlighting a faint red object labeled "CANUCS-LRD-28.6" among other galaxies.

Webb Found an Ancient, Greedy Black Hole Growing Too Fast

Scientists using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have confirmed the presence of an actively growing supermassive black hole in a galaxy observed just 570 million years after the Big Bang. It's a greedy blackhole, consuming matter and growing at a shocking rate that flies in the face of expectations.

Close-up view of a textured, light brown rock surface with rough, uneven features and visible cracks and crevices. The lighting highlights the varied natural patterns and irregularities in the stone.

NASA Perseverance Rover Photographs Rock on Mars That Looks Like a Turtle

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover has been exploring Jezero Crater on Mars since it landed on the planet on February 18, 2021. Since then, it has made many remarkable discoveries and captured hundreds of thousands of incredible photos. A recent photo shows a close-up of a Martian rock, it looks a lot like a turtle.

A comet with a bright core and faint tail moves through space, surrounded by colorful, streaked star trails in red, green, and blue on a dark background.

You’ve Never Seen an Interstellar Comet Look This Awesome

A few weeks after the Hubble Space Telescope captured an incredible photo of comet 3I/ATLAS as it screamed through the solar system at a blistering 130,000 miles per hour (209,000 kilometers per hour), the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South in Chile set its sights on the comet, capturing a gorgeous, colorful photo unlike anything seen before.