Out in the Kuiper Belt, the massive doughnut of debris beyond Neptune, about one in 10 kilometer-scale objects have surprised scientists with their unexpected shape. Rather than resembling a ball, ...

Long before Sputnik, something else was already circling our planet—seen by pilots, tracked by radar, and photographed for decades. If the decoded signals are real, this object has been observing ...

Welcome to Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images—right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to ...

A California teenager has uncovered a cosmic treasure trove while mining archived NASA data—an achievement that earned him formal praise from NASA leadership in early 2026. What began as a summer ...

Metamorphopsia distorts central vision, making straight lines look wavy and flat objects look rounded. It happens when the retina or macula is damaged by disease, injury, or aging. Common causes ...