Nancy Atkinson
Over a Hundred New Large Objects Found in the Kuiper Belt
Hey Pluto, Sedna, Haumea, Makemake Et al.: You’ve got company! While searching for distant galaxies and supernovae, the Dark Energy…
Neutron Star Measures Just 22 Kilometers Across
How big is a neutron star? These extreme, ultra-dense collapsed stars are fairly small, as far as stellar objects are…
It Looks Like Betelgeuse was Dimming Because it was Dusty After All
It’s been said that dust built the Universe. And it turns out dust may be the culprit for building up…
Asteroid Bennu is Getting Some Official Names for its Surface Features
Late last summer, NASA and the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (a.k.a WGPSN) approved the naming…
Curiosity’s Latest Mars Panorama, Captured in 1.8 Billion Glorious Pixels
The Curiosity rover on Mars has captured the most detailed panoramic image ever taken of the Red Planet’s surface. The…
Phew, Earth-Watching DSCOVR is Operational Again
Rejoice! If you’ve missed your daily fix of seeing views of our rotating Earth from space, NOAA announced that its…
Even Though it Was Observing an Asteroid, OSIRIS-REx Accidentally Spotted a Black Hole
While the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was orbiting asteroid Bennu, one of the instruments on board happened to catch a glimpse of…
A Picture of Earth’s New Temporary Moon
With the excitement and interest in the newly discovered ‘mini-moon’ found orbiting Earth, astronomers quickly set their sights on trying…
Look down into a pit on Mars. The caved-in roof of a lava tube could be a good place to explore on the Red Planet
Want to look inside a deep, dark pit on Mars? Scientists and engineers using the HiRISE Camera on board NASA's…
The Life of Katherine Johnson Shows that ‘Hidden Figures’ Are Important to History
NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson did more than just calculate rocket trajectories for early space missions. Her story, when it was…