Science

Black holes, dark matter, gravitational waves and exoplanets: find out how astronomy is unlocking the secrets of the Universe.

$Neil Allen, Norwich. Equipment: iPhone 8, Sky-Watcher Equinox 80 refractor, TS Optics Herschel wedge.$

Gallery Transit of Mercury, 11 November 2019

UCL Perren telescope

Radio Astronomy Podcast A look at UCL Observatory's new 80cm Perren telescope

Composite image of Mercury transiting across the sun on 9 May, 2016, as seen by HMI on NASA's Solar Dynamics Obersvatory. Credit: NASA/SDO

Transit of Mercury 2019 Livestream

Neptune by Voyager

A guide to the planets Neptune

Mercury, planet

A guide to the planets Mercury

The astronomer Sir William Herschel. Credit: DEA PICTURE LIBRARY / Contributor

Astronomers you should know Sir William Herschel

An artist’s impression of a dusty disc around a star. Credit: ESO

How do planets form? An interview with a planetary scientist

The planet Venus taken by Mariner 10

A guide to the planets Venus

Viking image of Mars

A guide to the planets Mars

Hubble image of Saturn

A guide to the planets Saturn

Uranus by Voyager 2

A guide to the planets Uranus

Jupiter is more massive than all of the other solar-system planets combined.

A guide to the planets Jupiter

A 2D surface map of Earth, treated as a proxy exoplanet, shows the continents in green and seas in blue. Credit: Steng Fan

Is it possible to make a map of an exoplanet?

The Sun shows us how sunspots appear dark against a star. Credit: SOHO (ESA & NASA)

Observing spots on distant stars

Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo Galilei, 1636. Credit: Justus Sustermans - http://www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/pages/mnuExplore/PaintingDetail.cfm?ID=BHC2700

A conversation with Galileo