Features

The 10 biggest things in Astronomy

For nearly half a century, the world’s leading title on astronomy and space has reported mesmerizing science.

The Red Planet revealed

More than a dozen spacecraft have shown Mars to be a wonderfully diverse world with hidden stores of water.

Shining light on black holes

It took 200 years to find the first black hole. Now we know they’re everywhere.

Voyager’s Grand Tour

The twin probes explored more planets, discovered more moons, and offered more breaking news than any other spacecraft.

Inflation leaves its mark

Alan Guth’s remarkable theory provides a master key to the universe we see today.

Decoding the cosmic microwave background

The Big Bang left behind a unique signature on the sky. Probes such as COBE, WMAP, and Planck taught us how to read it.

Hubble’s astounding legacy

NASA’s finest instrument has captured more images and generated more research than any telescope in history.

The weird mystery of dark energy

Though it dominates the universe, dark energy is the biggest discovery we don’t understand.

Exoplanets burst onto the scene

Since their discovery in 1992, planets outside our solar system have been found around thousands of stars in the galaxy.

Pluto finds its place

No longer a lone world at the edge of the solar system, Pluto is the brightest and best-studied member of a vast throng of Kuiper Belt objects.

Glimpsing gravitational waves

The screams of colliding black holes allow astronomers to study the universe in a whole new way.

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