The Parker solar probe spacecraft has been launched successfully by Nasa. It was sent off into space on board the Delta-IV Heavy Rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The satellite is designed to fly within six million kilometres of the Sun – closer than ever before.

The European spacecraft Rosetta has become the first ever to catch up with a comet. It is a landmark step in a decade-long mission that scientists hope will help unlock some of the secrets of the solar system. Rosetta will accompany comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko on its trip around the sun and land ...

Nasa's asteroid Vesta in 3-D. Put on your 3-D glasses for this ride over asteroid Vesta.

A mysterious and intense X-ray source near the black hole shines onto the surface layers of the accretion disk, causing iron atoms to radiate characteristic emission -- what astronomers call the iron K line -- at about 6,000 to 7,000 electron volts. The inner part of the disk is orbiting the black h...