A six-planet solar system in perfect synchrony has been found in the Milky Way

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a rare in-sync solar system with six planets moving like a grand cosmic orchestra, untouched by outside forces since their birth billions of years ago. The find, announced Wednesday, can help explain how solar systems across...

Oldest black hole discovered dating back to 470 million years after the Big Bang

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have discovered the oldest black hole yet, a cosmic beast formed a mere 470 million years after the Big Bang. The findings, published Monday, confirm what until now were theories that supermassive black holes existed at the dawn of the...

NASA spacecraft discovers tiny moon around asteroid during close flyby

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The little asteroid visited by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists. It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinesh has a dinky sidekick — a mini moon. The discovery was made during Wednesday’s flyby of...

NASA's Lucy spacecraft swoops past first of 10 asteroids on long journey to Jupiter

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on Wednesday encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its long journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft on Wednesday swooped past the pint-sized Dinkinesh, about 300 million miles (480 million kilometers) away in the main asteroid...

'Ring of fire' eclipse brings cheers and shouts of joy as it moves across the Americas

CANCÚN, México (AP) — First came the darkening skies, then the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, and finally an eruption of cheers by crowds that gathered Saturday along the narrow path of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun. It was a spectacular show for millions...

NASA spacecraft launched to mysterious and rare metal asteroid in first mission of its kind

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid. Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an...

NASA sends spacecraft on a six-year journey to explore a rare asteroid made of metal

NASA shows off its first asteroid samples delivered by a spacecraft

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA on Wednesday showed off its first asteroid samples delivered last month by a spacecraft — a jumble of black dust and rubble that's the most ever returned to Earth. Scientists anticipated getting a cupful but are still unsure how much was grabbed...

NASA's first asteroid samples land on Earth after release from spacecraft

NASA’s first asteroid samples fetched from deep space parachuted into the Utah desert Sunday to cap a seven-year journey. In a flyby of Earth, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft released the sample capsule from 63,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) out. The small capsule landed four hours later...

The fall equinox is here. What does that mean?

NEW YORK (AP) — Fall is in the air — officially. The equinox arrives on Saturday, marking the start of the fall season for the Northern Hemisphere. But what does that actually mean? Here's what to know about how we split up the year using the Earth's orbit. ...