NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity completed its first Mars marathon Tuesday — 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers) – with a finish time of roughly 11 years and two months.

The observed outburst reveals a sudden accumulation of gas and dust.

Observations reveal that a particular supernova produced a cloud that contains enough dust to make 7,000 Earths.

The team in charge of NASA’s Kepler mission will receive the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s highest group honor at a ceremony in Washington on March 25.

Operators of NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover have reformatted the rover’s onboard flash memory so the team can resume storing data overnight on the rover.

A sudden eruption around an exceptionally young star surprises astronomers.

Sentinel-1A shows that the ground is rising by 0.5 cm per month in Italy’s Phlegraean Fields – or Campi Flegrei – near Naples

Scientists are making advances in the use of satellite radar data – such as those from the Sentinel-1 mission – to monitor Earth’s changing surface.

Space Science Image of the Week: Some galaxies take on more familiar forms than others, as shown in this aquatic-themed Hubble image of merging galaxy pair Arp 142

The star, which astronomers saw appear in the sky in 1670, was not a nova, but a spectacular collision between two stars, more brilliant than a nova, but less so than a supernova.

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are studying nova GK Persei to provide clues to the dynamics of much larger stellar explosions.

One of humanity’s oldest technologies, the humble fishing net, may yet find a new role in space: bringing down dead satellites. 

As today’s partial solar eclipse crossed Europe, it was also visible from space. ESA’s Proba-2 captured a near-total eclipse from orbit, at the same time as its sister minisatellite Proba-V peered down to snap the shadow of the eclipse on Earth.

Our week through the lens: 16-20 March 2015

Image and video gallery of the solar eclipse as seen by astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA’s Proba-2 minisatelite and ESA sites around Europe

The instrument has just begun to scour the sky for messages from other worlds.

New Horizons’ flyby past Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, will transform them from poorly seen hazy bodies to tangible worlds with distinct features.

Satellite observations provide a new and more accurate way to assess where underground water in northern Italy is most at risk from pollutants.

This week’s spectacular glowing auroras in the night sky further south than usual highlighted the effect that ‘space weather’ can have on Earth.

A strong solar flare was detected on the Sun last Sunday, an event generally associated with …

Join us Friday, 20 March, at 10:00 CET for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme. This week features the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator

Technology image of the week: Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, on screen, meets ESA’s telerobotic arm during BBC Stargazing Live rehearsal

A team of astronomers and geologists have produced a new map of the Moon’s most unusual volcano showing that its explosive eruption spread debris over an area much greater than previously thought.

The MESSENGER team initiated the “hover” observation campaign, which was designed to gather data from the planet at ultra-low altitudes until the last possible moment.

The ADAPT test system can help a spacecraft divert its course and make a smooth, pinpoint landing. Two technology demonstration test flights were completed in California in 2014.

ESA’s Redu Centre was honoured with a visit from His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium on Tuesday 17 March

ESA’s Redu Centre was honoured with a visit from His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium on Tuesday 17 March

For participants in the Mars imaging campaign: how to command a camera orbiting the Red Planet. Join our live #ESAHangout, 13:30 GMT / 14:30 CET, 19 March

For participants in the Mars imaging campaign: how to command a camera orbiting the Red Planet. Join our live #ESAHangout, 13:30 GMT / 14:30 CET, 19 March

On 18 March 1965 Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to perform a spacewalk. Celebrate 50 years of spacewalks with this multimedia gallery

On 18 March 1965 Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to perform a spacewalk. Celebrate 50 years of spacewalks with this multimedia gallery

Although the source and composition of the dust are unknown, there is no hazard to MAVEN and other spacecraft orbiting Mars.

Instead of core formation occurring by iron sinking down to the growing Earth’s core in large blobs, that iron was vaporized, spread out in a plume over the surface of Earth and rained out as small droplets.

The seventh and eighth Galileo satellites, set for launch together in nine days’ time, have been fitted together onto the dispenser that will carry them during their flight to orbit.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Celebrating 12 years at New Norcia

This database gives us the first glimpse at what diverse worlds out there could look like.

This database gives us the first glimpse at what diverse worlds out there could look like.

Three teams of students from Southern California won the Los Angeles regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

Researchers have discovered two seafloor troughs that could allow warm ocean water to reach the base of Totten Glacier, East Antarctica’s largest and most rapidly thinning glacier.

Space Science Image of the Week: Aerial acrobatics in the Sun’s corona captured by ESA’s Proba-2

The chemical variability revealed will provide critical constraints on future efforts to model and understand Mercury’s bulk composition and the ancient geological processes that shaped the planet’s mantle and crust

Analysis of images taken of our solar system’s main belt asteroids between Mars and Jupiter using a new algorithm showed a 15 percent increase in positive identification of new asteroids.

Those who feel as though they’ve been living in the never-ending winter of the movie “Frozen” this year, this could be welcome news.

Our week through the lens: 9-13 March 2015

The subterranean ocean on Ganymede is thought to have more water than all the water on Earth’s surface.

The Hapi region is located between 67P’s two lobes and has in the past months proven to be particularly active and the source of spectacular jets of dust and gas.

The sixth Galileo satellite of Europe’s navigation system has now entered its corrected target orbit, which will allow detailed testing to assess the performance of its navigation payload.

On Friday morning, 20 March, Europe will experience a partial solar eclipse. Only a partial solar eclipse will be visible from continental Europe, but the Agency’s Sun-watching Proba-2 minisatellite, up in its 820 km-altitude orbit, will see two periods of near-total eclipse for a few dozen seconds.

The world celebrates the number pi on Pi Day: March 14, 2015 (3/14/15). Here’s how pi is used in science and engineering.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its robotic arm Wednesday, March 11, to sieve and deliver a rock-powder sample to an onboard instrument.

Join us Friday, 13 March, at 10:00 CET for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme. This week features the Sete Cidades Massif on the Azores island of São Miguel

Human spaceflight image of the week: ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen inspects the Eurobot rover that he will command from space during his ‘iriss’ mission in September

On the boundary between the heavily cratered southern highlands and the smooth northern lowlands of Mars is an area rich in features sculpted by water and ice.

The magnitude of the chaos can range widely, from planets whose orbits remain largely circular to those whose orbits get so elongated that a planet could slam into its host star.

The implications of such activity on a world other than our planet open up unprecedented scientific possibilities.

The hidden ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus could be home to present-day hydrothermal activity, according to two new studies by scientists with NASA’s Cassini mission.

Tiny grains of rock detected by the international Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn point to hydrothermal activity on the seafloor of its icy moon Enceladus.

Our Universe is the canvas as iconic Space Invader mosaics link the International Space Station and ESA establishments

Technology image of the week: the optical bench serving what will be ESA’s stillest space mission, LISA Pathfinder

The exact source of this high-energy light is uncertain at this point, but it just might be a signal of dark matter lurking at the galaxy’s center.

This beautiful new image is the most detailed view of the southern constellation Ara.

Space centres seen through the eyes of photographer Edgar Martins thanks to a partnership with ESA

A new “true color” radio image of Abell 2256 suggests that previously unexpected physical processes are at work in galaxy cluster encounters.

The findings from newly released imaging data may help unravel the mysteries behind dark matter.

NASA’s new satellite mission to map the water in the soil under our feet has successfully tested its science instruments for the first time.

Rosetta looks on as Philae tackles landing on a comet…

Air was pumped out of the International Space Station’s air lock for the first time in the name of science last week. Inside the cylindrical Quest airlock, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA’s Terry Virts monitored their breathing for researchers back on Earth.

All the elements for this month’s Galileo launch are coming together at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. As the two satellites undergo final testing and preparations, the first part of their Soyuz launcher has also been integrated.

US 708 is a rapidly rotating, compact helium star likely formed by interaction with a close companion.

Space Science Image of the Week: Hubble image unveils the twisted shockwaves of an exploded star

NASA will host a media teleconference at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST) today to discuss the historic arrival of the agency’s Dawn spacecraft at the dwarf planet Ceres.

Managers of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover mission expect to approve resumption of rover arm movements as early as next week.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has become the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet.

Our week through the lens: 2-6 March 2015

Dawn’s trajectory puts it on the side of Ceres that faces away from the Sun until mid-April.

About 4 billion years ago, Mars likely had an ocean that covered almost half of the planet’s northern hemisphere.

Researchers believe that gaseous precipitaton is key to understanding how giant black holes affect the growth of galaxies.

A high-speed camera for monitoring vegetation from space and combating famine in Africa is being adapted to spot changes in human skin cells, invisible to the naked eye, to help diagnose skin diseases like cancer.

In May, the ‘webcam’ on board Mars Express will be available for public imaging requests. We’re inviting schools, science clubs and youth groups to submit proposals for one of eight opportunities to image another planet.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is investigating unusual rocks before reformatting the rover’s memory and continued driving toward “Marathon Valley.”

Join us Friday, 6 March, at 10:00 CET for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme. This week features a Sentinel-1A mosaic of Hungary

The discovery suggests that planets in quadruple systems might be less rare than once thought.

The multiple images of the exploding star are caused by the powerful gravity of a foreground elliptical galaxy embedded in a massive cluster of galaxies.

NASA’s next mission to Mars, InSight, is on track to launch a year from today and to study the Red Planet’s interior to learn about how rocky planets like Earth evolved.

Astronomers have discovered the second known case of a planet in a quadruple star system.

After studying the recent explosive break-up of a US satellite, ESA space debris experts have concluded this event does not increase the collision risk to nearby ESA missions in any meaningful way.

With a resolution of 4 inches (11 centimeters) per pixel, these data from OSIRIS’ Narrow Angle Camera reveal highly detailed structures on Comet 67P’s surface.

Technology image of the week: ESA’s Proba-V minisatellite captures an Australian salt lake covered with water

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is expected to remain stationary for several days for engineering analysis following an onboard fault-protection action on Feb. 27.

Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: mission control team trains for Sentinel-2A launch

Dawn will be the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when it enters orbit around Ceres on Friday, March 6.

Arcadia High School won out over 11 other teams at the Ocean Sciences Bowl regional competition held at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 28.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres, scheduled for Friday, March 6.

Join us Tuesday, 3 March at 14:00 CET as Wolfgang Pitz from Airbus Defence and Space discusses testing the Sentinel-2A satellite

This young and remote object provides tantalizing evidence for the rapid evolution of galaxies after the Big Bang.

Space Science Image of the Week: Instruments for JWST have been tested in a vacuum chamber to ensure they can withstand the intense cold of space

Our week through the lens: 23-27 February 2015

Data from NASA’s WISE mission have led to the discovery of two clusters of newborn stars thousands of light-years below the plane of our galaxy.

NGC2276-3c has traits similar to both stellar-mass and supermassive black holes.

The scientists not only found giant molecular clouds thousands of light-years above and below the galactic disk, but also one of them unexpectedly contained two clusters of stars.

Earth observation image of the week: a false-colour image of Belgium’s capital, also featured on the Earth from Space video programme