Stories by Phil Plait

Increasing NASA’s budget would ease pressure and allow it to dream even bigger

As space agencies turn their gaze to the moon, we need to consider what werewolves might mean for lunar exploration—and vice versa

The James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared gaze sheds new light on the Orion nebula, an icon of the night sky

When the sun gets feisty, Earth’s atmosphere can literally light up. But seeing the resulting aurora isn’t always easy

Of the thousands of stars visible to the eye, only a few hundred are known to have planets. But that number may be far higher in reality

This annular solar eclipse will only reveal its full glory to a select few, but onlookers across much of the Western Hemisphere can catch a partial glimpse of the dazzling phenomenon

The equinox is not when day and night have equal lengths. Instead it’s something more nuanced but no less glorious

Thousands of spacecraft circle Earth. Seeing them from the ground is surprisingly easy—and a lot of fun

Apollo moon landing conspiracy theories were early hints of the dangerous anti-vax, antiscience beliefs backed by politicians today

Earth is bombarded by millions of bits of cosmic debris every day. Here’s how to distinguish between the different types

Yellow, white or maybe even green—the sun’s hue depends on how you see it

From dim red to brilliant blue, stellar colors span the spectrum—and reveal how much any star brings the heat

If you want to make it through the trials and tribulations of Mercury in retrograde, it’s easy: don’t do anything. You’ll be fine

All you need to see one of the year’s best meteor showers is a clear, dark sky—and patience

Marvel for a moment at the Milky Way’s night-sky spectacle—and the scientific revolutions it has sparked

The “magnitude scale” for measuring stellar brightness also reveals the limits of naked-eye stargazing

This week—and any time there’s a new crescent moon—the lunar night is a little less dark, thanks to the bright reflected light of Earth

Get to know the stellar trio behind one of the most iconic sights in summer’s night sky

When looking for life in space, we should broaden our horizons

Our planet’s not-quite-circular orbit means that on July 6 we’ll be about 2.5 million kilometers farther from the sun than average—but we won’t feel any colder

The wildfire smoke that smothered the U.S. Northeast last week has surprising connections to astrophysics—and to the historic search for our place in the cosmos

Our planetary neighbor Venus becomes a brilliant beacon in the sky each time it reaches its greatest orbital distance from the sun

Cell-phone towers leak radio waves into space, but they’ll be tough for aliens to detect

Saturn’s surprisingly young rings and record-breaking bounty of moons make the planet a ripe target for springtime sky watchers