Nasa has beamed back a set of spectacular pictures from Mars — and a first voice message — likening it to the lunar landmark led by Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon who died last week.

An amateur astronomer has said he got the shock of his life when he made Ireland’s second discovery of a supernova in less than two years.

A Dublin man has discovered a supernova, Ireland's second such find.

Pluto may have been kicked out of the planet club, but it has gained yet another companion.

A NEWLY discovered asteroid the size of a large house will narrowly miss Earth when it passes by on Monday.

Galileo’s invention of the astronomical telescope four centuries ago will be celebrated by stargazers all over the world next year.

SMALL rocky planets like Earth may outnumber Jupiter-sized “gas giants” by three-to-one, a recent discovery suggests.

Demoted from planethood a year ago into a new category of dwarf planet, it now turns out that it is not even the biggest one of those.

THE universe just got smaller. Yesterday morning there were nine planets in the solar system — by 2.30pm there were just eight.

Leading astronomers approved historic new planet guidelines at a meeting in the Czech Republic today, downsizing Earth’s neighbourhood from nine principal heavenly bodies to eight by demoting distant and dinky Pluto.

Pluto has three moons, not one, new images from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest.

AMERICAN scientists have discovered what they are excitedly claiming - but others dispute - should be recognised as the 10th planet in orbit around our sun.

Astronomers say they have discovered a new planet larger than Pluto in orbit around the sun, renewing debate over what exactly is a planet and whether Pluto should keep its status.

Seven more moons have been discovered circling Jupiter, a discovery that astronomers hope could provide clues of the planet's origin.