New survey of nearest stars reveals best spots for life

View larger. | This is an artist’s concept of Kepler-186f, an Earth-sized exoplanet about 500 light-years…

Could aliens and fireflies communicate in the same way?

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Garth Battista captured this scene of fireflies in the Catskill…

Europa’s ocean ‘quiet and lifeless,’ new research suggests

View larger. | Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa is one of the most promising places to search…

SETI@home takes a closer look at 100 notable signals

A screenshot of the SETI@home user interface on a desktop computer in 2009. The software ran…

How to detect signatures of alien life in exoplanet air

View larger. | Artist’s concept of exoplanet K2-18b. How do astronomers plan to detect the signatures…

Earth’s ice ages shaped by tiny tugs from Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured this image showing Earth as a tiny dot of light seen from…

Strange shock wave around dead star surprises astronomers

The inset image shows dead star RXJ0528+2838 creating a shock wave as it moves through space.…

New research says icy lakes on Mars lasted for decades

Artist’s concept of the ancient lake in Gale crater on Mars. A new study says the…

Fast-spinning asteroid 2025 MN45 rewrites rotation record

This artist’s illustration depicts the fast-spinning asteroid 2025 MN45. It’s the fastest-rotating asteroid with a diameter…

Earliest, hottest galaxy cluster gas could upend models

Artist’s impression of a galaxy cluster forming in the early universe. These are active galaxies, with…