Spacecraft could build themselves or huge space telescopes someday by scavenging materials from space junk or asteroids. That wild vision stems from a modest proposal to use 3D printing technology aboard a tiny satellite to create a much larger structure in space. Full story
The United States' spy satellite agency is giving NASA two spare space telescopes free of charge, each potentially more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA officials announced today (June 4). Full story
A soccer-ball-shaped planetary nebula discovered by an amateur astronomer may help scientists better understand these odd structures, which are created by the last gasps of dying stars. Full story
The number of planets that astronomers have discovered orbiting distant stars hovers right below 500. But confirming which remote flicker of light is the milestone alien world will be a tricky affair. Full story
NASA's space telescope has discovered 25,000 new asteroids in its first six months. Smithsonian planetary scientist Emma Bullock discusses the impact of the new asteroids.
A vast hole in space has been unexpectedly discovered in a part of the universe thought to be packed with a cloud of dense gas and dust – the latest in a string of cosmic finds by the European Herschel infrared space telescope.Space.com: Full story
The Arkyd-101 space telescope, shown in this artist's conception, represents the first spacecraft to be developed by Planetary Resources as part of an asteroid scouting and mining venture.
This image shows the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light from the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. In this composite view, the irregular distribution of dust in the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clear. A stream of dust extends to the
This image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy in infrared light as seen by the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. In the instruments' combined data, this nearby dwarf galaxy looks like a fiery, circular explosion. Rather than fire, however, th
