Rosetta went where no space mission had been before! It caught up with a comet in deep space and went into orbit around it. Its lander Philae was the first ever to land on a comet. At the end of the mission, Rosetta also landed on the comet to join it and Philae on the comet's journey.

Since the name of Nicolaus Copernicus is still well known nearly five hundred years after his death, why was his grave unmarked until 2010? Find out about the life of the quiet revolutionary that turned our view of the universe inside out.

The year 2022 was an exciting year for astronomy and space. James Webb started showing what amazing things it can do, and NASA made it to the Moon and back. Perseverance and Ingenuity have become partners in exploration. The most distant and oldest known star has been an amazing find.

The magnificent rings of Saturn are one of the most beautiful sights of the Solar System. But Saturn isn't alone in having rings. There are rings circling all the giant planets, a dwarf planet and an asteroid. Mars may have been ringed in the past, and for a time, even the ancient Earth had a ring.

Three days orbiting Earth strapped into a space capsule so primitive that no one could land in it. So how did the cosmonaut get home? That's part of the story of the first woman in space, on a solo flight twenty years before NASA sent Sally Ride into orbit on a Space Shuttle.

There was no fanfare or countdown when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. On April 12, 1961, Vostok 1 blasted off with a “Let's go!”. Gagarin was an exceptional individual who came from humble beginnings, and at 34 his life ended all too soon.

Saint Patrick's Day is associated with the shamrock and the color green. Although there don't seem to be any cosmic shamrocks, there are many green phenomena in the skies. Discover a beautiful green nebula, what excites electrons, and why con men sold “comet pills”.

John Herschel was the son of William Herschel, discoverer of the planet Uranus. But he earned his own reputation as an astronomer, mathematician, chemist, translator, artist, writer, and pioneer of photography. When he died he was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey near Sir Isaac Newton.

Astronomy no longer recognizes the "music of the spheres". Yet if heavenly bodies did make music, perhaps there are those who could hear it! Read about some individuals who've pursued astronomy and music in their different ways.

Caroline Herschel was an intelligent young woman trapped in domestic servitude by her mother. Her brother William rescued her and trained her as a singer. After he discovered the planet Uranus, the two of them ended up forming a great partnership whose work revolutionized the study of astronomy.