Vesta's Surface Comes into View

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

A new video from NASA's Dawn spacecraft takes us on a flyover journey above the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta.

For hundreds of years, this gaseous giant planet appeared shrouded in colorful bands of clouds extending from dusk to dawn, referred to as zones and belts.

As the moon Enceladus eclipses its neighbor Mimas, Cassini records a scene possible only around the time of Saturn's approaching equinox.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft launched toward Pluto in 2006, but the mission can trace its start back to 1930, when Clyde Tombaugh discovered the small planet and opened the door to a new, mysteri...

Keeping a close watch on the outer portion of Saturn's B ring, NASA's Cassini spacecraft records the complex inward and outward movement of the edge of the ring.

This video from NASA's Dawn mission shows that the gravity field of Vesta closely matches the surface topography of the giant asteroid Vesta.

The small moon Mimas passes in front of the larger moon Rhea, which is partly obscured by Saturn's rings, in this movie from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

In this month's sky, look for lovely crescent Moons at the start and end of the month. The September equinox brings the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. And Mars is at solar conjunctio...

Possible ‘Survivor' Planet Spotted Hugging a White Dwarf Star

Look for Mars close to the Pleiades in the first weeks of March. Then wake up early to observe the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn.

This movie from Cassini, made possible only as Saturn's north pole emerged from winter darkness, shows new details of a jet stream that follows a hexagon-shaped path and has long puzzled scientists.

OSIRIS-REx Touches Asteroid Bennu

This movie, made from data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, shows Saturn's southern aurora shimmering over approximately 20 hours as the planet rotates.

This animation shows the last 30 seconds of Cassini's X- and S-band radio signals as they disappeared from mission control on Sept. 15, 2017.

The Usual Suspects: Science research is like detective work. One scientist takes his case to California's Death Valley, to search for clues surrounding a Titan lake.

Seeking September 2020 skywatching highlights? Catch Venus and Mars with the Moon, and spot the flickering star Fomalhaut.

This video describes Cassini measurements of high speed streams of tiny dust particles emanating from the vicinity of Saturn.

This animation, derived from data obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, shows how plasma swirling around Saturn is correlated to bursts of radio waves emanating from the planet.

This video takes viewers on a virtual tour of Vesta's south polar basin, the 'snowman' set of craters and a crater called Oppia.

Ranger 9 was the last of the Ranger series of spacecraft launched in the 1960s to explore the moon and was designed to image and impact the moon's crater Alphonsus. This video from 1965 includes im...

Join us in our search for life beyond Earth.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission launched Aug. 12, 2018, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Clouds move above the large methane lakes and seas near the north pole of Saturn’s moon Titan in this movie made from images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Cassini mission planners created this animation to showcase Cassini's final 22 orbits - the mission's Grand Finale.