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Here are the paths of the next 15 total solar eclipses

From 2017 to 2040, there will be 15 total solar eclipses. Here's a map of where to see them.

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Today is the day! A last-minute guide for watching the Great American Eclipse

By Kate Travis

18 hours ago

Feature

What will scientists learn from the Great American Eclipse?

Between now and August 21, astronomy writer Lisa Grossman will explore the top questions scientists will tackle during the 2017 total solar eclipse.

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Mars has nighttime snow storms

When clouds of water-ice particles cool at night, snow starts to fall rapidly on Mars, simulations suggest. The squalls could explain observations made by the Phoenix lander in 2008.

News

Eclipse watchers will go after the biggest solar mystery: Why is the corona so hot?

Usually when you move away from a heat source, it gets cooler. Not so in the sun’s atmosphere.

News

Does the corona look different when solar activity is high versus when it’s low?

Carbondale, Ill., will get two eclipses in a row, seven years apart — making it the perfect spot to watch the solar cycle in action.

Feature

Ticks are here to stay. But scientists are finding ways to outsmart them

Researchers acknowledge that there’s no getting rid of ticks, so they are developing ways to make them less dangerous.

News

Cosmic lens lets astronomers zoom in on a black hole’s burps

The beginnings of a jet from an active black hole in a distant galaxy were spotted thanks to a lucky alignment.

Feature

Photographs of Rwandans killed in 1994 genocide

A look at Rwanda’s genocide helps explain why ordinary people kill their neighbors

New research on the 1994 Rwanda genocide overturns assumptions about why people participate in genocide. A sense of duty, not blind obedience, drives many perpetrators.

News

We share the Milky Way with 100 million black holes

New census calculates black hole populations in galaxies big and small.

News

Where does the solar wind come from? The eclipse may offer answers

A quick-fire polarization camera should help scientists detect the origins of the solar wind during the Aug. 21 eclipse.

News

Embryos kill off male tissue to become female

Female embryos actively dismantle male reproductive tissue, a textbook-challenging study suggests.

News

How an itch hitches a ride to the brain

Scientists have figured out how your brain registers the sensation of itch.

News

Why are the loops in the sun’s atmosphere so neat and tidy?

Observations during the total solar eclipse may explain why the sun’s atmosphere is so organized despite arising from a tangled magnetic field.

News

black-legged tick on the left, lone star tick on the right

A new tool could one day improve Lyme disease diagnosis

There soon could be a way to differentiate between Lyme disease and a similar tick-associated illness.

News in Brief

Robot, heal thyself

Self-healing material is helping make more resilient robots.

News

What can the eclipse tell us about the corona’s magnetic field?

The corona’s plasma jumps and dances thanks to the magnetic field, but scientists have never measured the field directly.

News

Seismologists get to the bottom of how deep Earth’s continents go

Scientists may have finally pinpointed the bottoms of the continents.

News

Can the eclipse tell us if Einstein was right about general relativity?

During the eclipse, astronomers will reproduce the 1919 experiment that confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

News

Normally aloof particles of light seen ricocheting off each other

Scientists spot evidence of photons interacting at the Large Hadron Collider.

News

What can we learn about Mercury’s surface during the eclipse?

Instruments aboard twin research jets will take advantage of the total solar eclipse to make the first thermal map of Mercury.

News

Polluted water: It’s where sea snakes wear black

Reptile counterpart proposed for textbook example of evolution favoring darker moths amid industrial soot.

News

What happens in Earth’s atmosphere during an eclipse?

The charged layer of Earth’s atmosphere gets uncharged during an eclipse, and that could have implications for everything from GPS accuracy to earthquake prediction.

News

What do plants and animals do during an eclipse?

A citizen science experiment will gather the biggest dataset to date of animal responses to a total eclipse.

News

Why is this year’s solar eclipse such a big deal for scientists?

Total eclipses offer scientists a way to see all the way down to the sun’s surface.

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Here are the paths of the next 15 total solar eclipses

Science News Blogs

What will scientists learn from the Great American Eclipse?

Mars has nighttime snow storms

Eclipse watchers will go after the biggest solar mystery: Why is the corona so hot?

Does the corona look different when solar activity is high versus when it’s low?

Ticks are here to stay. But scientists are finding ways to outsmart them

Cosmic lens lets astronomers zoom in on a black hole’s burps

A look at Rwanda’s genocide helps explain why ordinary people kill their neighbors

We share the Milky Way with 100 million black holes

Where does the solar wind come from? The eclipse may offer answers

Embryos kill off male tissue to become female

How an itch hitches a ride to the brain

Why are the loops in the sun’s atmosphere so neat and tidy?

A new tool could one day improve Lyme disease diagnosis

Robot, heal thyself

What can the eclipse tell us about the corona’s magnetic field?

Seismologists get to the bottom of how deep Earth’s continents go

Can the eclipse tell us if Einstein was right about general relativity?

Normally aloof particles of light seen ricocheting off each other

What can we learn about Mercury’s surface during the eclipse?

Polluted water: It’s where sea snakes wear black

What happens in Earth’s atmosphere during an eclipse?

What do plants and animals do during an eclipse?

Why is this year’s solar eclipse such a big deal for scientists?

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