Saturn’s vanishing rings

New model suggests Hawking radiation is speeding cosmic decay Scientists have long predicted that the Universe’s lifetime is effectively forever – specifically, 101100 years. But now scientists from R

Ten years ago, Pluto emerged from the gloom at the Solar System’s ragged edge – and a new world came in from the cold. Five billion kilometres (3 billion miles) from Earth, on 14 July 2015, NASA’s pia

BEST TIME TO SEE: From 03:30 BST (02:30 UT) all month. Closest approach on 12 August Venus is the brightest planet that can be seen from Earth. At its peak brightness, when 22% illuminated, Venus appr

BEST TIME TO SEE: Nights of 9/10, 10/11 and 11/12 July A full Moon occurs when the Moon is opposite the Sun in the sky or, in other words, when its ecliptic longitude is 180° from the Sun. The eclipti

The best discoveries, inventions and surprises

The Sun’s surface often looks speckled with darker regions. These are sunspots – cooler patches that form as a result of the Sun’s complex magnetic field preventing heat from reaching localised areas