Editorial archive

Universe

158 results
The Andromeda Galaxy observed in ultraviolet.
Cosmic structure Active

Andromeda Galaxy

Andromeda, or M31, is the Milky Way’s nearest major spiral-galaxy neighbour, a Local Group member roughly 2.5 million light-years away.

Reference illustration of Earth
Celestial body Active

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the largest of the terrestrial planets. It is the only known place inhabited by living things and the...

Europa and possible water-vapor plumes.
Celestial body Active

Europa

Europa is one of Jupiter’s four large moons and the planet’s fourth-largest moon. Its icy surface and measurements pointing to a salty ocean bene...

Reference illustration of Jupiter
Celestial body Active

Jupiter

Jupiter (JPL 599) is the fifth planet: a rapidly rotating gas giant with a hydrogen-helium atmosphere, an intense magnetosphere, moons, and faint...

M33, one of the galaxies in the Local Group.
Cosmic structure Active

Local Group

The Local Group is a galaxy group including the Milky Way, Andromeda, and more than 50 other galaxies, on Laniakea’s outer edges.

Reference illustration of Mars
Celestial body Active

Mars

Mars (499) is the fourth planet from the Sun: a rocky, cold, dusty desert world with a very thin atmosphere, seasons, polar ice caps, extinct vol...

Reference illustration of Mercury
Celestial body Active

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet in the solar system. JPL identifier 199 corresponds to a rocky world with a 2439...

Infrared panorama of the Milky Way.
Cosmic structure Active

Milky Way

The Milky Way is our home galaxy, a spiral galaxy with a stellar disk spanning more than 100,000 light-years.

Apollo 11 astronaut on the lunar surface.
Celestial body Active

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is a differentiated rocky body with a core, mantle, and crust, orbiting Earth at an average distan...

Reference illustration of Neptune
Celestial body Active

Neptune

Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet in the solar system: an ice giant discovered in 1846 through mathematical predictions. It has a dyn...

Map of matter in the observable universe.
Cosmic structure Active

Observable Universe

The Observable Universe is the cosmic setting studied by cosmology, whose history extends from early inflation to the present accelerating expans...

The Orion Nebula observed in infrared.
Celestial region Active

Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula, or M42, is a nebula in Orion and a nearby star-forming region that can be seen without optical aid from a dark-sky site.

Center of the Milky Way with Sagittarius A*.
Celestial body Active

Sagittarius A*

Sagittarius A* is the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, with a mass of about four million times that of the Sun.

Reference illustration of Saturn
Celestial body Active

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the solar system. It is a gas giant composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, kno...

The eight planets of the Solar System.
Planetary system Active

Solar System

The Solar System includes the Sun, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, and thousands of asteroids and comets.

Reference illustration of Sun
Celestial body Active

Sun

The Sun is a yellow dwarf star about 4.5 billion years old, composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Located at the center of the solar system, it...

Reference illustration of Uranus
Celestial body Active

Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, an ice giant that rotates on its side. It has 13 faint rings; NASA lists 29 recognized moons as of Aug...

Reference illustration of Venus
Celestial body Active

Venus

Venus is a cloud-shrouded planet, a nearby planetary neighbor of Earth, and NASA describes it as the hottest planet in the solar system. Its carb...

Region of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
Cosmic structure Active

Virgo Cluster

Virgo is the nearest large galaxy cluster to the Local Group, containing over a thousand galaxies, hot gas and dark matter, with M87 in its centr...