We can never see these more distant regions. Still, the observable Universe alone should be big enough for most people. Indeed, for scientists like Casey and Sheth, it remains a constant source of fascination.

We’re not even at the centre of our Solar System or at the centre of our galaxy

“Everything that we’ve learned about the Universe – how big it is, all the amazing objects that are in it – we do that simply by collecting these photons of light that have travelled millions and millions of light years only to come and die on our detectors, our cameras or radio telescopes,” says Sheth.

As cosmologists ponder the universe—and other possible universes—the data available to them is so complex and vast that it can be extremely challenging for humans alone to comprehend.

A rare eruption of the Raikoke volcano in Russia gives NASA an eyeful of ash.

The Planetary Society’s second solar sail will attempt to use sunlight to fly through space.

A Russian cosmonaut and astronauts from the United States and Canada have returned to Earth after spending more than 200 days on board the International Space Station.

Oleg Kononenko with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Anne McClain of NASA and Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques landed aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft on Monday (June 24). Lowered by parachute and slowed by braking thrusters, the capsule touched down southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 10:47 p.m. EDT (0247 GMT or 8:47 a.m. local time on June 25).

The landing brought to a close the crew members’ 204-day mission, which saw Kononenko, McClain and Saint-Jacques serve on the space station’s 58th and 59th expedition crews. The trio arrived at the orbiting laboratory on Dec. 3, 2018.

With Earth-like canyons and oceans of liquid methane, Saturn’s moon Titan is one of the most fascinating places in the solar system. To better understand this weird world, scientists recreated Titan’s alien oceans in the lab, producing new types of crystals that don’t occur naturally on Earth but may form a common crust on Titan.