Explorations in 2009
January 14 The Stardust spacecraft got a gravitational “kick” when it flew past Earth. After gathering particles from Comet Wild […]
Explorations of Minor Bodies
Galileo is best known for its reconnaissance of Jupiter. As it transited the asteroid belt en route to Jupiter, though,
Explorations of Outer Planets
Voyager images (clockwise from top left) of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and NeptuneVoyager 1 and 2 conducted a “grand tour” of
Explorations of the Inner Solar System
Lunar farside, 1959In 1962, the American Mariner 2 staged the first successful encounter with another planet when it flew past
Why can’t we see stars in the pictures of spacewalking or moonwalking astronauts?
The stars aren’t visible because they are too faint. The astronauts in their white spacesuits appear quite bright, so they
Why can’t we see stars in the pictures of spacewalking or moonwalking astronauts? Read More »
Our Star, the Sun
The Sun was born about 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a vast cloud of gas and
Mercury
Mercury's surface closely resembles the Moon's. It is covered by impact craters, ancient lava flows, and quake fault lines. Mile-high
Who built the first observatory?
Observatories, like so much of astronomy, are truly ancient features of human culture; retracing the steps of the first person
Who made the first map of the universe?
Maps of the stars are nearly as ancient as human culture itself; inscriptions describing the positions of stars and constellations
Are any observatories open to the public?
Many observatories around the world are at least partially accessible to the public, with some, such as McDonald Observatory in