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The observatory in the Tatacoa Desert.
observatories

Deep in the Tatacoa Desert, There's an Observatory Unlike Any Other

At his DIY institution in Colombia, Javier Fernando Rua Restrepo watches the stars.
Lucy Sherriff September 26, 2018
The Milky Way visible from the Tatacoa Desert.
Villavieja, Colombia

Tatacoa Astronomia

A self-taught astronomer fell in love with the stars and built his own observatory in Colombia.
Gastro Obscura

Meteorite Wine at Tagua Tagua Observatory

This Cabernet Sauvignon is out of this world.
A Soviet stamp from 1972 commemorated 15 years in space.
maps

Revisiting a 1958 Map of Space Mysteries

What have we learned about the cosmos over the past 60 years?
Jessica Leigh Hester August 24, 2018
Sarcophagus on top level of Mausoleum of Theoderic.
Ravenna, Italy

Mausoleum of Theoderic

The roof of this ancient mausoleum is made from a single Istrian stone weighing a massive 230 tons.
The Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile is "magnificently desolate," according to astronomer Scott Sheppard.
astronomy

How a Desert Mountain Telescope Revealed Jupiter's Odd New Moon

Meet Valetudo, a moon that doesn't just go with the flow.
Jessica Leigh Hester July 17, 2018
maps

The Dazzlingly Colorful Atlases That Brought the Night Sky Within Reach

Detailed maps of the heavens weren't just for scholars.
Jessica Leigh Hester July 16, 2018
Stockholm, Sweden

AlbaNova Telescope

Sweden's largest optical telescope sits on a rooftop in Stockholm.
The Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope (AMAT) at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
astronomy

London's Royal Observatory Once Again Gazes at the Sky

It's been 60 years since the city's smog shut it down.
Sofie Werthan June 28, 2018
The Monsoon Palace.
Kodiyat, India

Monsoon Palace

This magical place built as an astronomical center starred as a James Bond villain's lair.
Andromeda galaxy over Radkan Tower.
Iran

Radkan Tower

A sophisticated astronomical tower built by one of the greatest Persian scholars of the Islamic Golden Age.
Detail of the ceiling of the Great Vestibule
Dandarah, Egypt

Hathor Temple

One of the most well-preserved temples of ancient Egypt.
Listen up.
astronomy

The Milky Way Sounds Like a Wacky Jazz Ensemble

An astronomer translated the sounds of galactic gases into a piece of music.
Jessica Leigh Hester May 16, 2018
The Cassini spacecraft captured this nearly edge-on view of Saturn's rings and the moons Mimas, Janus, and Tethys.
astronomy

How to Appreciate Saturn as Abstract Art

In an image captured by Cassini, the gas giant's rings look like razor-thin blades.
Jessica Leigh Hester May 14, 2018
This family portrait of Jupiter and Io, one of its moons, is a montage of images taken by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2007.
astronomy

How to See Jupiter in All Its Glory

Throughout May, the gas giant will be close to Earth and visible all night long.
Jessica Leigh Hester May 8, 2018
Standing stone with hole.
Sisian, Armenia

Zorats Karer

Called the "Armenian Stonehenge," this ring of menhirs pierced with holes may be a prehistoric astronomical observatory.
How many craters and dark spots can you name?
astronomy

Who Keeps Track of All the Craters on the Moon?

For generations, women have been critical to bringing order to the chaos of the solar system.
Jessica Leigh Hester April 25, 2018
<em>Denali and Wonder Lake</em>, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1948, photograph by Ansel Adams.
astronomy

Solved: A Decades-Old Ansel Adams Mystery

The answer was hidden in the shadows.
Cara Giaimo April 20, 2018