In a Dome in Hawaii, a Mission to Mars

By KENNETH CHANG

Sian Proctor/University of Hawaii at Manoa

The members of NASA's Hi-Seas team are staying in a dome on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii for the next eight months.

In a dome on a Hawaiian volcano, NASA is financing a study to see how astronauts might deal with the stress and isolation of an interplanetary trip.

Comet C/2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, passed 87,000 miles from Mars on Sunday — or 10 times closer to the planet than any known comet has come to Earth, NASA said.

A Comet’s Brush With Mars

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

A comet the size of a small mountain whizzed past Mars on Sunday, dazzling space enthusiasts with the once-in-a-million-years encounter.

Observatory

Solar Systems With Their Own Rule Books

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA

Large planets with surprisingly sharp orbital angles can exert gravitational forces on other planets, a new study reported.

The universe is conjured into existence by an omnipresent creator. The 1573 image is the creation of the Portuguese artist Francisco de Holanda and one of hundreds in the book

Cosmos as Masterpiece

By MICHAEL BENSON

Over thousands of years, humans have tried to represent the universe in graphic form, whether in manuscripts, paintings, prints, books or supercomputer simulations.

The moon glowing red over Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday during a total lunar eclipse. Known as a “blood moon” because of the coppery color, it was the second of four such eclipses over a two-year period that will end next September. The first was in April.

Lunar Eclipse in Asia and the Americas

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Evening viewers in much of Asia and early risers in parts of the Americas were treated to a stunning lunar eclipse on Wednesday, though clouds obscured it for some.

Out There

How to Make a Black Hole

By DENNIS OVERBYE

Gamma-ray bursts are thought to be the final step by which stars sink into oblivion.

Interactive Feature

Mars Curiosity Rover Tracker

A selection of images from NASA’s Curiosity rover as it drives toward Mount Sharp.

Slide Show

Readers’ Moon Memories

Photographs from readers of what they were doing as astronauts first walked on the moon.

Multimedia

Video

Storm Chasing on Saturn

The sun is slowly rising over Saturn’s North Pole, exposing an immense six-sided hurricane. The storm, big enough to swallow four Earths, was first spotted by the Voyager missions in the early 1980s.