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Discovered just this past summer, Comet Machholz continues to brighten toward being visible with the unaided eye in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This image was taken at the Kitt Peak Visitor Center Observatory on December 11, 2004.

Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to celestial objects like galaxies and nebulas. These objects are so far away that astronomers cannot see their three-dimensional structure. The Helix Nebula, for example, resembles a doughnut in colorful images. Earlier images of this complex object — the gaseous envelope ejected by a dying, sun-like star — did not allow astronomers to precisely interpret its structure. One possible interpretation was that the Helix's form resembled a snake-like coil...

Larry Carlino's great style earns him yet another shopping credit to Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird for his review of the Celestron 102mm Wide Field Scope.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have unveiled a fundamental change in the properties of matter. The theoretical finding, that bosons placed in two-dimensional harmonic traps will crystallize when the strength of their repulsive interactions is increased, appears in the December 3 issue of the journal Physical Review Letters (volume 93, article 230405, 2004)...

Two of NASA's Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, have provided astronomers an unprecedented look at dusty planetary debris around stars the size of our sun...

One year after Mars Express’ arrival at Mars, the mighty rules of celestial mechanics have again set Christmas as the date for a major ESA event in deep space.

Stealing is a crime on Earth, but at Saturn, apparently it is routine. The Cassini spacecraft has witnessed Saturn's moon Prometheus snatching particles from one of Saturn's rings.

Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have measured the age of what may be the youngest galaxy ever seen in the universe.

Our intrepid author packs a TeleVue 85 for a journey to the amazing skies of Maui and Hilo and finds he made a good choice in traveling companions.

In a splendid portrait created by light and gravity, Saturn's lonely moon Mimas is seen against the cool, blue-streaked backdrop of Saturn's northern hemisphere. Delicate shadows cast by the rings arc gracefully across the planet, fading into darkness on Saturn's night side.

We warmly invite our worldwide paricipants to join with us in our American tradition today as we celebrate the abundance life offers each of us and as we gather together with family and friends...

VLT Interferometer Studies the Inner Region of Circumstellar Discs

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has obtained definitive evidence that a distant quasar formed less than a billion years after the big bang contains a fully-grown supermassive black hole generating energy at the rate of twenty trillion suns. The existence of such massive black holes at this early epoch of the Universe challenges theories of the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes...

Edwin Powell Hubble was born in Marshfield, Missouri on this day in l889. We’re talking about the Rhodes Scholar Hubble who studied Roman and English Law at Queens College, Oxford and then practiced law for a year in Louisville, Kentucky.

When looking at a massive launch vehicle or aircraft, it’s hard to imagine that a problem with one tiny wire could paralyze its performance. To reduce processing delays and ensure safe and sound performance, Kennedy Space Center technology experts invented the Standing Wave Reflectometer (SWR).