Solar system

Celebrate the April 8 total solar eclipse with these livestreams from NASA, the NSF, Scientific American, and more

Just how rare are total solar eclipses, which require a perfect alignment of the sun and moon?

Figuring out whether there are more stars in the universe than sand grains on Earth’s seashores requires math—and imagination

Scientists have scarcely begun studying pristine material from asteroid Bennu that was brought back to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx mission, but they have already found several surprises

A kite-borne experiment will observe the sun’s mysterious corona during the upcoming total solar eclipse

Scientists are finally getting their hands on enough data to begin to understand how animals react to a total solar eclipse

Astronomers now have three possible theories to explain how weird hot Jupiter exoplanets form

Quirks of orbital mechanics make a cadre of sun-orbiting asteroids appear to be moons of Earth

At least one in a dozen binary stars shows signs of eating their planets

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is hiding a strange spiral in its icy heart—and it may tell scientists about the comet’s innards

New analyses cast doubt on claims that a meteor witnessed over the South Pacific in 2014 came from another star system and raise questions about a high-profile expedition to recover the fireball’s fragments from the seafloor

Snapshots of a plethora of planet-forming disks offer more than just eye candy—they also reveal some fundamental aspects of how worlds are born