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Perhaps due to Japan's temperate climate, the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu is more gentle and benevolent than some other sun deities.
space exploration

How Can Myths Help Us Understand the Stars? AO Wants to Know.

Astrophysicist and folklorist Moiya McTier teaches science through storytelling.
Andrew Coletti March 20, 2025
An artist's rendering of NASA's Europa Clipper passing over the ice-covered moon Europa as it orbits Jupiter. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Jupiter in 2030.
science

How Many Other Oceans Exist in Our Solar System?

Some of the moons orbiting Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus may hide deep saltwater expanses beneath their icy crusts.
Robin George Andrews March 18, 2025
Turns out the Pacific Ocean and Utah desert have a lot in common.
space exploration

How Cold War Spying From Space Connected the Galaxy to Utah

NASA and the private space sector are now turning to technology used for a top-secret 1960s mission.
Danny Robb February 27, 2025
Andover, England

Danebury Meteorite

The earliest meteorite ever discovered in Britain was nearly missed.
Manzanares, Spain

Paseo del Sistema Solar

A scale model of our Solar System, where physical representations of the Sun and planets have been placed along a route in the local park.
Don't believe the hype about object 2024 PT5 being a "mini-moon." We have only one moon, seen here during the Artemis I mission in 2022.
astronomy

Our 'Mini-Moon' 2024 PT5 Is Mini—But It's Not a Moon

The space rock taking a surprise swing around our planet is just visiting from Earth's asteroid belt.
Rebecca Boyle September 25, 2024
Our planet frequently gets dinged with smaller, harmless asteroids like RW1. Planetary defense systems able to detect them should also be able to spot bigger threats.
meteorites

Asteroid 2024 RW1 Just Hit Earth. That's a Good Thing.

The asteroid that exploded over Luzon was not a threat—but it was a victory for our planetary defense systems.
Robin George Andrews September 5, 2024
The Moon now has, essentially, its own time zone, which will allow for precise navigation in the years and decades to come.
space exploration

Moon Time Is a Thing Now—Here's Why It Matters

Physicists recently created Coordinated Lunar Time, a time zone for our Moon.
Rebecca Boyle August 28, 2024
In the SQuARE experiment, archaeologists trained International Space Station astronauts how to document the ISS using standard archaeological methods, including creating square-meter study areas.
science

On the ISS, Archaeologists Conduct the First 'Space Excavation'

The International Space Station is the first permanent human settlement in space—and the perfect setting to understand how our species might create culture off-planet.
Justin St. P. Walsh and Alice Gorman August 26, 2024
Monterey's Moon Tree
List

10 Places That Bring Space Down to Earth

From trees grown from space-seeds to a wheel of cheese that's been to orbit and back, slices of space are everywhere.
Roxanne Hoorn June 21, 2024
telescopes

Podcast: Looking Toward the Sky with Summer Ash

Fall in love with black holes.
The Podcast Team May 30, 2024
science

Podcast: To the Moon and Back With Rebecca Boyle

Understanding the ways in which the moon has helped impact human life.
The Podcast Team May 9, 2024
Gila Bend, Arizona

Space Age Lodge and Restaurant

A lingering bit of Space Race nostalgia lies in the middle of the desert.
In March 2024, author and poet Christopher Cokinos joined three other artists in a simulated lunar mission named Imagination 1.
space exploration

A Poet’s Guide to the Moon and Eclipse

Author Christopher Cokinos can’t get enough of the moon.
Jonathan Feakins April 5, 2024
Leuven, Belgium

'Primeval Atom'

An installation that makes understanding the size of the universe a walk in the park.
Artist's impression of the Milky Way.
science

Podcast: Marching Through the Galaxy With Moiya McTier

The award-winning astrophysicist and folklorist takes us on a tour of the Milky Way.
The Podcast Team March 21, 2024
See it, hear it, and maybe even feel the planetary vibrations.
sounds

Space Makes Noise—And Here’s the Eerie Song an Eclipse Sings

Thought you could only experience the astronomical event with your eyes?
Sara Mellas March 19, 2024
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was a test—and a first in the history of aviation
space exploration

Where the Little Helicopter on Mars Fits in the History of Aviation

If the past is any guide, things are going to take off quickly.
Robin George Andrews February 13, 2024