NEWS & FEATURES

Terry Caws/Alamy Stock Photo

Space tourism: Rockets emit 100 times more CO₂ per passenger than flights

Here's what a space tourism industry led by Bezos, Branson and Musk might mean for the planet.

READ MORE

Say Aloha to Hawaii with TravelQuest!

Our journey crisscrosses the Big Island of Hawaii, exploring the basalt-lava rock pools of Hilo, pristine beaches, waterfalls, lush rainforests, and Volcanoes National Park. Ascend to great heights with a visit to Mauna Kea Observatories, where our small group of intrepid sky watchers will discover what secrets the Hawaiian skies reveal!

Optiques Fullum

Explore how telescope mirrors are made

The optics are what makes a telescope tick, but creating the perfect mirror is an intricate, artisanal process.

READ MORE

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Snapshot: Juno sails by Jupiter and Ganymede

Ride along as the probe passes the gas giant and its icy moon.

READ MORE

ESA/VR2Planets/Damia Bouic

Venusian trio: ESA teams up with NASA to send another spacecraft to Venus

EnVision will orbit Venus with the goal of getting a holistic view of our sister planet.

READ MORE

Ask Astro: Why do galaxies have spiral arms? Do smaller objects have them too?

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizon

Ask Astro: What would Earth look like from Venus?

If you were on Venus and looking at Earth, what features would you be able to see with our modern-day telescopes (professional and amateur)?

READ MORE

OBSERVING

NASA, ESA, A. Simon (GSFC) and the OPAL Team, and J. DePasquale (STScI); CC BY 4.0

The sky this week

Your daily digest of celestial events coming soon to a sky near you.

READ MORE

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Giovanni Tumino from Ragusa, Italy

Black letter

Barnard's E is a combination of two dark nebulae that lie some 2,000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. Barnard 142 is the C-shaped feature, while B143 is the relatively straight line below it.

VIEW NOW