Jason Major
Will Gaia Be Our Next Big Exoplanet Hunter?
Early on the morning of Dec. 19, 2013, the pre-dawn sky above the coastal town of Kourou in French Guiana was briefly sliced by the…
How an Ancient Angled Impact Created Vesta’s Groovy Belt
When NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrived at Vesta in July 2011, two features immediately jumped out at planetary scientists who had been so…
Making the Moon: The Practice Crater Fields of Flagstaff, Arizona
Between the years of 1969 and 1972 the astronauts of the Apollo missions personally explored the alien landscape of the lunar…
Orbiting Solar Observatory Sees It Burn, Burn, Burn: The Ring of Fire
Did you catch the solar eclipse on October 23? If so, you saw the Moon "take a bite" out of…
This Is the Very First Photo of Earth From Space
These days we see photos of our planet taken from space literally every day. Astronauts living aboard the International Space Station,…
No, This Is Not a Photo of India on Diwali
Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, falls on Thursday, Oct. 23 this year and with it come celebrations, gift-giving, and…
Awesome Photo Shows Monster Sunspot Aiming Our Way
It's a-comin': a "monster" sunspot is steadily rotating around the Sun's southern hemisphere and will soon be in position to fire…
Here’s a High-Res Look at Philae’s Landing Spot
The long-awaited deployment of the Philae lander, currently "piggybacked" aboard ESA's Rosetta spacecraft orbiting the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, will…
On Scarves, Squirrels, and the Fate of the Universe
Are you scared of the dark, personal failure, or just feeling a tad nihilistic? Maybe you're worried about asteroids, solar…
Landing on a Comet: The Trailer
In less than a month, on November 12, 2014, the 100-kg Philae lander will separate from ESA's Rosetta spacecraft and…