Martian Moons and Jovian Jaunts
A close-up look at the universe’s many wonders, from nearby planets to faraway galaxies.
- Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech01This close-up photo of Jupiter’s temperate belts was taken by the Juno spacecraft as it skimmed by the giant planet. Jupiter is known for these stripes, which are actually atmospheric separations caused by weather patterns and variations in chemical composition.
- Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech02This image is a stitched-together portrait of some of the last Saturn photographs taken by the Cassini spacecraft—which, after 13 years in orbit, flung itself into the planet and vaporized. The white circle marks the spacecraft’s final resting place.
- Photo: ESA/Hubble & NASA03Congratulations, you’re now a time traveler. This image shows the galaxy cluster PLCK G004.5-19.5 as it looked five billion years ago—which is how long it took the light to travel the vast distance to reach our telescopes.
- Photo: ESO04The four laser beams shooting out from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope allow the telescope to create an artificial guide star, allowing the optics to stay tuned while scientists track real astronomical objects.
- Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech05These two floating space objects are actually the two moons of Mars: Phobos and Deimos. Scientists hope to someday land robotic spacecraft (or even humans) on these moons, but for now they’re just studying them from a distance.
- Photo: NASA/ESA06Scientists thought they had nailed down the universe’s rate of expansion, but a new study—which used the stars circled in yellow to measure brightness and distance—revealed that it might be expanding faster than they thought.
TopicsAMP Stories
New Horizons Breaks a Record for Long-Distance Photography
The spacecraft was 3.79 billion miles from Earth when it snapped this photo of a Kuiper Belt object.
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Even Geriatric Mars Rovers Know How to Snap Selfies
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Cosmic Dust Gives Milky Way a Fiery Mane
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You Just Try to Snap a Photo at 100,000 MPH
When NASA's Juno spacecraft whizzes by Jupiter's poles, it manages to snap clear photos at astounding speeds.
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Artemis II Returns Safely to Earth After Historic Flight Around the Moon
After traveling a greater distance from Earth than any humans before them, the astronauts of Artemis II have safely returned home.
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The Trip to the Far Side of the Moon
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The Future of the Artemis Program Is Riding on Reentry
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5 Mysteries That the Artemis Missions to the Moon Could Finally Solve
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Artemis II Mission Launches Successfully
The crew of Artemis II will not descend to the moon, but their capsule will fly over the far side of its surface.
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Artemis II: Everything We Know as Its Crew Approaches the Far Side of the Moon
Artemis II remains on course for its lunar flyby as the crew shares historic photos of Earth, tests key systems for future lunar missions, and attempts to fix the toilet.
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Artemis II’s Breathtaking View of the Far Side of the Moon
The first images from Artemis II reveal what the moon looks like just 7,000 km from the surface—and confirm that NASA is ready to return to Earth’s satellite.
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