Space | CNN

Space

iss072e097446 (Oct. 24, 2024) -- As the International Space Station soared 257 miles above Lake Michigan, NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Don Pettit captured this long-exposure photograph of city lights streaking across Earth while a green and red aurora moved through the atmosphere.

Don Pettit/NASA

An astronaut’s awe-inspiring views from life in space

Longtime NASA astronaut Don Pettit is set to return from his fourth trip to space on Saturday night. Here are some of his most stunning photos of the cosmos.

Latest

Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project.

A new comet appeared in the sky, then likely disintegrated. But it can still be seen

Scientists detect signature of life on a distant planet, study suggests

Solar storm could bring auroras farther south over the US than they typically appear

Video Watch first footage of Blue Origin’s all-female crew in space 1:14

Live Updates Blue Origin launches star-studded crew on space tourism rocket

Video Watch all-female crew fly to space on Blue Origin rocket 1:51

The all-woman crew for Blue Origin's upcoming flight into space includes, clockwise from top left: Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Lauren S√°nchez and Amanda Nguyen, on the bridge of Blue Origin's Launch Site One outside of Van Horn, Texas on April 11, 2025. S√°nchez teamed up with Monse to redesign the Blue Origin flight suits with its all-female launch in mind. (Justin Hamel/The New York Times)

Justin Hamel/The New York Times

Katy Perry, Gayle King and 4 other women are headed for the ‘edge of space.’ Here’s what that means

HOLCOMBE, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 05: The full Snow Moon rises behind leafless trees on February 5, 2023 in Somerset, England. Tonight's full Snow Moon will be the smallest full moon of the year, making this Snow Moon a micromoon, which is the opposite of a supermoon. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Matt Cardy/Getty Images/FILE

April’s full moon is a ‘micromoon.’ Here’s what that means

In this screenshot from video, Rabea Rogge looks through the cupola of the Dragon capsule during the Fram2 mission.

First humans to orbit directly over the North and South poles share details of trip 1:01

Skyrora thumb 1.jpg

‘Space taxis’ take satellites straight to their destination 2:40

Featured

CNN/Adobe Stock

Why scientists say we need to send clocks to the moon — soon

Chris Meaney/NASA/CIL

Scientists have spotted unexpected X- and C-shaped structures in the atmosphere. They are struggling to explain them

In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)

What the two Boeing Starliner astronauts will do in space until 2025

This composite image shows the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, also known as the "bullet cluster." This cluster was formed after the collision of two large clusters of galaxies, the most energetic event known in the universe since the Big Bang. Hot gas detected by Chandra in X-rays is seen as two pink clumps in the image and contains most of the "normal," or baryonic, matter in the two clusters. The bullet-shaped clump on the right is the hot gas from one cluster, which passed through the hot gas from the other larger cluster during the collision. An optical image from Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxies in orange and white. The blue areas in this image show where astronomers find most of the mass in the clusters. The concentration of mass is determined using the effect of so-called gravitational lensing, where light from the distant objects is distorted by intervening matter. Most of the matter in the clusters (blue) is clearly separate from the normal matter (pink), giving direct evidence that nearly all of the matter in the clusters is dark.

NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch et al.

Scientists may have found an answer to the mystery of dark matter. It involves an unexpected byproduct

Explore

This handout photo provided by SpaceX and Polaris on September 15, 2024 shows Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander, stepping out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission's "Dragon" capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, after completing the first human spaceflight mission by non-government astronauts of the Polaris Program. The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first spacewalk by non-government astronauts, splashed down off the coast of Florida early on September 15, 2024. The Dragon spacecraft landed in the ocean at 3:37 am (0737 GMT), a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the capsule and crew. The capsule was lifted from the water and onto the recovery vessel half a hour later. (Photo by Polaris Program / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SpaceX / Polaris" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by -/Polaris Program/AFP via Getty Images)

Polaris Program/AFP/Getty Images

Trump’s unconventional NASA pick signals Mars intentions in confirmation hearing

TOPSHOT - In this picture taken in the country-side near Dalby-Viggeby, south of Uppsala, Sweden just after 21:00 CET on March 24, 2025 shows a blue and white spiral in the night sky reportedly created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket. A stunning blue and white spiral spotted in skies across Europe was created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket, according to weather forecasters and scientists.
The UK's Met Office said on X it had received many reports of an "illuminated swirl" in the sky on Monday evening likely caused by a rocket that had earlier blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. (Photo by Bertrand ILHE / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "Blue spiral in sky above France, UK likely from SpaceX rocket" (Photo by BERTRAND ILHE/AFP via Getty Images)

Bertrand Ilhe/AFP/Getty Images

An eerie spiral lit up the European skies. Here’s why such light shows are becoming more common

In this screenshot from video, the Fram2 mission capsule splashes down off the coast of California on April 4.

4 space tourists splash down after traveling an orbit never attempted before

Nuclear-powered rocket concept could cut journey time to Mars in half

Researchers compared the "space miso" after fermentation at the International Space Station.

Maggie Coblentz

Scientists sent beans into orbit and made ‘space miso.’ Here’s how it tasted

These whirling lines in the sky are the trails of stars after an hour-long exposure above Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The trails are shortest around the North Star, Polaris, a star that happens to coincide almost directly with the celestial north pole. The different colors in the trails reflect the different temperatures of the stars, with blue being the hottest stars and yellow/red the coolest. The telescope visible above the horizon is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, and the red glow on the mountain is caused by red lights used to ensure the eyes of visitors and staff remain dark adapted at night. The yellow glow on the horizon comes from Tucson, AZ, about 89 kilometers (55 miles) to the northeast. Over the past decade, light pollution like this has increased by 2% a year from many medium-sized and larger cities. To help monitor light pollution in your city, you can participate in the citizen science campaign, Globe at Night.

KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Tafresh

‘Another mind-blowing change’: New data suggests mysterious dark energy is evolving

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Fram2 mission astronauts aboard lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 31, 2025. Launching aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule Resilience, the Fram2 mission will be the first human spaceflight ever to cruise over Earth's polar regions. The flight is being funded privately by Chinese-born entrepreneur Chun Wang, who will serve as mission commander. The rest of the international crew are vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany and mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips of Australia. Their flight also marks the sixth private astronaut mission by SpaceX. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Gregg Nedwton/AFP/Getty Images

SpaceX launches 4 people on a polar orbit never attempted before

Astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore talk to reporters during a press conference at Johnson Space Center on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Ashley Landis/AP

NASA astronauts speak out for the first time following unexpected 9-month mission to space

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Dragon sit on the launch pad in Florida, ahead of the Fram2 mission.

SpaceX is set to launch 4 people on a first-of-its-kind mission around Earth’s poles. Here’s what to know

This graphic shows the long-chain organic molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane. These are the largest organic molecules discovered on Mars to date. They were detected in a drilled rock sample called “Cumberland” that was analyzed by the Sample Analysis at Mars lab inside the belly of NASA’s Curiosity rover. The rover, whose selfie is on the right side of the image, has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012. An image of the Cumberland drill hole is faintly visible in the background of the molecule chains.

Dan Gallagher/NASA

Curiosity rover makes ‘arguably the most exciting organic detection to date on Mars’

A partial solar eclipse is seen as the Sun rises behind the Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse on June 10, 2021, at Lewes Beach in Delaware.

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

How to see a partial solar eclipse turn the sun into a crescent

The planet Mars

Toxic dust on Mars would present serious hazard for astronauts

Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

‘Targeted’ and ‘cruel’: NASA staff react to layoffs as broader changes loom

In this image provided by NASA, a SpaceX capsule splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, as it lands off the coast of Florida with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. (Keegan Barber/NASA via AP)

Keegan Barber/NASA/AP

How NASA’s waylaid astronauts finally got home

This is a Hubble Space Telescope composite image of a supernova explosion designated SN 2014J in the galaxy M82. At a distance of approximately 11.5 million light-years from Earth it is the closest supernova of its type discovered in the past few decades. The explosion is categorized as a Type Ia supernova, which is theorized to be triggered in binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and another star — which could be a second white dwarf, a star like our sun, or a giant star.

Supernovas may have played a role in two of Earth’s largest mass extinctions, study suggests

This is an artist’s impression of JADES-GS-z14-0, which as of today is the most distant confirmed galaxy. Galaxies in the early Universe tend to be clumpy and irregular. Supernova explosions in this galaxy would have spread heavy elements forged inside stars, like oxygen, which has been now detected with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

M. Kornmesser/ESO

Oxygen detected in the most distant galaxy ever found

Prev

1
2
3
4
5
6

Next