Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, known as the "Mother" of Hubble, died at 93. Courtesy of NASA hide caption
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The 46P/Wirtanen comet, as seen through a telescope in France on Dec. 3, is currently making an unusually close pass by Earth. It will be visible, if weather allows, until Dec. 22. Nicholas Biver/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A Perseid meteor crosses along the Milky Way in August 2017, illuminating the dark sky near Comillas, in northern Spain. Cesar Manso/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
The European spacecraft known as Gaia has unveiled this new view of the Milky Way. ESA/Gaia/DPAC hide caption
You Are Here: Scientists Unveil Precise Map Of More Than A Billion Stars
Artist's rendering of how the first stars in the universe may have looked. N.R.Fuller/National Science Foundation/Nature hide caption
The Tarantula Nebula is home to many stars. Scientists were astonished by the number of super-massive stars they found inside the nebula. NASA, ESA, E. Sabbi (STScI) hide caption
The moon rises beyond the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kan., Nov. 13, 2016. The 2017 supermoon will appear Dec. 3. Orlin Wagner/AP hide caption
A technician examines the mirror on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Scientists at two national laboratories are currently building the components for an enormous digital camera that will capture images from the telescope. Joe McNally/Getty Images hide caption
David Reitze of the California Institute of Technology and the executive director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on Oct. 16. He talks of one of the most violent events in the cosmos, the collision of neuron stars, that was witnessed completely for the first time in August. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption
Until it was surpassed recently by a similar instrument in China, the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, completed in 1963, was the world's single largest. Seth Shostak/AP hide caption
Eclipses aren't just natural marvels - they're still teaching us a lot about the universe. Adam Cole/NPR's Skunk Bear hide caption
On Nov. 13, 2012, a narrow corridor in the southern hemisphere experienced a total solar eclipse. The corridor lay mostly over the ocean but also cut across the northern tip of Australia where both professional and amateur astronomers gathered to watch. Romeo Durscher/NASA Goddard Space Center/Flickr hide caption
A total solar eclipse is visible through the clouds as seen from Vagar in the Faroe Islands in March 2015. Eric Adams/AP hide caption
Scientists Prepare For 'The Most Beautiful Thing You Can See In The Sky'
Scientists used the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array near Socorro, N.M., to detect fast radio bursts. Patrick Semansky/AP hide caption
Humans have pointed their telescopes toward the heavens, and in the process they've managed to figure out a few things about the universe. ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org) hide caption
The Japanese Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii has the right attributes for searching for Planet Nine. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan hide caption
Astronomers Are On A Celestial Treasure Hunt. The Prize? Planet Nine
Carolyn Porco's design of the inscription that was etched onto the capsule of Gene's remains sent to the moon. Courtesy of Carolyn Porco hide caption
This illustration show's NASA's Juno mission approaching Jupiter. Juno used distant stars to chart its course across the void. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
This computer-simulated image shows a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy. The cosmic monster's powerful gravity distorts space around it like the mirror in a fun house, smearing the light from nearby stars. NASA/ESA/D. Coe, J. Anderson and R. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute) hide caption
An artist's rendering shows gas falling into a supermassive black hole, creating a quasar. Dana Berry/SkyWorks Digital; SDSS collaboration hide caption
A view from Earth of a slender crescent moon in close proximity to the two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter. Justin Lane/epa/Corbis hide caption
A NASA projection shows the path of Venus and Jupiter; the two planets will converge in the Earth's sky Tuesday night. YouTube hide caption
The 200-inch Hale Telescope, a masterpiece of engineering at Caltech's Palomar Observatory, was the world's largest telescope until 1993. Scott Kardel/Palomar Observatory/Courtesy of Palomar Observatory/California Institute of Technology hide caption
'Playing Around With Telescopes' To Explore Secrets Of The Universe
The Hooker 100-inch reflecting telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory, just outside Los Angeles. Edwin Hubble's chair, on an elevating platform, is visible at left. A view from this scope first told Hubble our galaxy isn't the only one. Courtesy of The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science Collection at the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. hide caption