A team of telescopes reveals a 3-D view of a giant sample of monstrous galaxy clusters.

The fantasy creations of the “Star Wars” universe are strikingly similar to real planets in our own Milky Way galaxy.

People the world over are feeling, or will soon feel, the effects of the strongest El Niño event since 1997-98, currently unfolding in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

ESA astronaut Tim Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut commander Yuri Malenchenko arrived at the International Space Station today, six hours after their launch at 11:03 GMT.

Galileos 11 and 12 are on the launch pad, attached to the top of their Soyuz rocket in readiness for this week’s launch.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Principia launch pictured from just 113 m away

Send an out-of-this-world e-card to your friends

ESA has ensured the continuation of the Sentinel-1 Earth observation satellite series for Europe’s Copernicus environmental programme by ordering two more satellites.

The €400 million contract was signed today with Thales Alenia Space of Italy to build Sentinel-1C and -1D.

In 2015, astronomers found signs of dark matter close to home, unraveled the mystery of a famous supernova, and took a trip to Pluto.

Replay: ESA astronaut Tim Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and commander Yuri Malenchenko heading to the International Space Station

ESA astronaut Tim Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and commander Yuri Malenchenko were launched into space at 11:03 GMT (12:03 CET)

Imagine being confronted with half a tonne or more of metal and composite structures, electronics boxes and solar panels – an unwanted satellite. And then being handed a blowtorch and told to melt it into vapour.

Astronomers think low spin is the ultimate cause of clumpy gas that drives high rates of galactic star formation.

Astronomers used the space telescope to probe whether the exoplanets lacked water or were simply hiding it with clouds or hazes.

NASA data are helping scientists learn more about some of El Niño’s key impacts around the globe.

Alteration of minerals by water may have been common on Mars into the second half of the planet’s age, a new analysis of observations by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests.

Missing Water Mystery Solved in Vast Exoplanet Survey

Space Science Image of the Week: Mighty black holes at the core of distant galaxies brighten up XMM-Newton’s view of the Lockman Hole

Europe’s Vega light launcher is entering its commercial life boasting a flawless record and an impressive set of capabilities for a wide range of missions. 

Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera team has launched a new website to showcase their recent images of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

The satellite age has revolutionised our understanding of Earth, giving us accurate information to help critical agreements on climate change such as at the current COP21 conference in Paris. Diminishing polar ice is one of the most visibl…

Our week through the lens: 7-11 December 2015

Comet Catalina has crossed into Northern Hemisphere skies and is now visible through binoculars.

This globular cluster is in the last stages of its existence.

In the coming months, comet Catalina — once thought to be an asteroid — should be visible with the naked eye for skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere.

Astronomers quietly submitted a research paper claiming they may have found a large planet on the far fringes of our solar system.

Discover more about the importance of ice sheets as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world

Watch ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s voyage to the International Space Station, including launch, docking and hatch opening on 15 December

While planets have been known to have cloudy storms, this is the best evidence yet for a star that has one.

The Curiosity rover is examining the first active sand dunes ever studied up close on any planet besides Earth.

A star the size of Jupiter has a raging, giant storm

ESA astronaut Tim Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and cosmonaut commander Yuri Malenchenko will leave our planet for the International Space Station 15 December at 11:03 GMT, marking the start of Tim Peake’s Principia mission.

Discover more about the importance of ocean colour as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world

Join us Friday, 11 December, at 10:00 CET for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme. This week features a Sentinel-2A image of Les Deux Alpes in France

Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Ganymede offer oceans of possibilities under their icy surfaces. 

Among the debris of a 360-million-year-old cosmic collision is a rare and mysterious young dwarf galaxy.

An ocean the size of the Atlantic may have once covered Mars’ northern hemisphere.

Scientists spotted four distant quasars — bright centers of active galaxies — in close proximity to each other, making them the earliest galaxy cluster yet.

NASA’s NuSTAR spacecraft spotted an X-ray glow at the Milky Way’s monstrous heart. Its origin remains a mystery.

Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to catch a faraway galaxy focusing the light of an even more distant supernova four times over.

Several discoveries published in 2015 reveal changes to the blast site and uncover secrets of the explosion first seen 28 years ago.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around Ceres March 6, revealing a pockmarked and ice-rich surface, as well as weird bright spots scientists now say is salt.

2015 was the “Year of Pluto,” revealing the icy world and its moons in stunning detail and upending much of what we thought we knew about this system.

Scientists say salt best explains the weird white spots that stand out against asphalt colored Ceres.

The European Space Agency’s history making visit to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed surprising science about this dirty snowball.

Dark matter annihilation may be the cause of the gamma-ray glow emanating from nearby dwarf galaxy Reticulum II.

Ceres reveals some of its well-kept secrets in two new studies in the journal Nature, thanks to data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft.

After missing on their first attempt in 2010, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully inserted the Venus Climate Orbiter Akatsuki into orbit around Venus.

The star has puzzled astronomers because it shows irregular dimming unlike anything seen for another star.

Discover more about the importance of aerosols as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world

Technology image of the week: radio testing of the world’s first CubeSat designed for atmospheric reentry

After a year-long wait in storage for a Proton rocket to become available, the EDRS-A laser communications payload and its Eutelsat host satellite are finally at the Baikonur cosmodrome and being prepared for launch in late January.

Discover more about the importance of soil moisture as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: ESA astronaut Tim Peake tries out his pressure suit and seat for 15 December launch

Enjoying a meteor shower requires only comfort and patience. In this brief video, Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich gives some tips on spending a night under “shooting stars.”

Conditions are prime for this year’s Geminid meteor shower. Here are some helpful tips to enjoy the show.

The most popular explanation is that an aging star spills material onto a smaller companion star, and the small star bulks up on mass to become hotter and bluer, thus becoming a blue straggler.

Enjoying a meteor shower requires only comfort and patience. In this brief video, Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich gives some tips on spending a night under “shooting stars.”

The final approach to an asteroid has been practised for ESA’s proposed Asteroid Impact Mission using a real spacecraft camera mounted on a robot arm.

A new video shows Galileos 11 and 12 being readied for their 17 December launch, concluding a year when the number of satellites in orbit will have doubled

Discover more about the importance of sea level as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world

These findings are important for understanding how monstrous galaxies form and evolve.

These latest pictures are part of a sequence taken near New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto, revealing features less than half the size of a city block on the diverse surface of the distant planet.

The Juno spacecraft meets the gas giant July 4, finally ending the decades-long hiatus of Jupiter missions.

Space Science Image of the Week: SOHO is still going strong after two decades in space, sending back impressive images of the Sun and its varying bursts of activity

Los Angeles High School teams win big at the annual competition at JPL.

Scientists on NASA’s Juno mission are preparing to receive some stunning images of Jupiter, and they need your help.

Discover more about the importance of glaciers as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world

Our week through the lens: 30 November – 4 December 2015

The seismometer is the prime science payload that will help answer questions about the interior structure and processes within the deep martian interior.

In just a couple of years, the red giant star CW Leonis has changed its appearance completely, meaning a whole set of carefully constructed models have been abandoned.

Get ready, set, go! As the thousands of runners start the London Marathon in April, ESA astronaut Tim Peake will run the full 42 km distance on a treadmill aboard the International Space Station.

JPL CubeSat clean room is doing big things for space explorations smallest inhabitants.

A key science instrument for NASA’s InSight spacecraft, being prepared for a March 2016 launch, is experiencing a leak in the vacuum container carrying its main sensors.

Astronomers harnessing the combined power of NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have found the faintest object ever seen in the early universe.

The LISA Pathfinder spacecraft is on its way to space, having successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana (Dec. 3 local time/Dec. 2 PST).