728 feet wideWeird but True
A routine map check found a new 728-foot crater on the Moon
McGetchin crater formed in spring 2024, but scientists found it later in a change map. The impact also left a 4-mile nighttime cold spot.
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728 feet wide
255 miles above EarthWeird but True
An astronaut photographed purple aurora from 255 miles up. Its color is a clue
The September 7 frame stacks city lights, white airglow and aurora above Central Asia. Different gases and altitudes make the colors.
164 votes to 1Culture
The UN voted 164 to 1 for maps that show Africa at its true relative size
The resolution encourages Equal Earth and other equal-area maps when size matters. It does not ban Mercator, a projection built for navigation.
41 days between viewsCulture
This Nunavut tundra changed color in 41 days. Peak autumn can last a week or less
Landsat 9 saw the same Coppermine River landscape on July 27 and September 6, as green tundra gave way to reds, oranges and yellows.
77 minutes in sunlightCulture
Apollo 11 held up a sheet of foil for 77 minutes. It came home carrying solar wind
Before Apollo 11 raised the flag, Buzz Aldrin aimed a 30-by-140-centimeter aluminum sheet at the Sun. The particles it trapped returned to Earth for analysis.
18 km from sourceCulture
Tiny mineral grains traced Yorkshire’s Devil’s Arrows to rocks 11 miles away
Zircon and apatite fingerprints link Britain’s tallest surviving standing-stone row to Brimham Rocks, while regional ice-flow evidence rules out a glacier making that journey.
50 degrees of real-world dramaEntertainment
Star Trek’s famous alien rocks look like gray scratches from orbit
Landsat 9 turned a longtime science-fiction backdrop into a patch of curved gray stripes, revealing the real geology beneath the fiction.
50 states, one mapCulture
Every state's geology now fits inside one searchable federal map
A new USGS release adds Alaska, Hawaii and most U.S. territories to the same standardized digital view as the Lower 48.
Free circus finaleCulture
The Smithsonian's second-oldest building is closing again. Its last weekend comes with a free circus
The Arts and Industries Building will host aerial performances, costume work and circus-science demonstrations before it closes September 7.
Survival changes valueEntertainment
Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars makes a farmer and a doctor the apocalypse's most valuable people
The new survival thriller puts a pilot, a military survivalist and a mysterious radio call inside a world where practical skill outranks status.
No. 2 after cancellationEntertainment
Coyote vs. Acme finally reached theaters and opened to an estimated $15.5 million
The finished movie took second place in the United States and Canada three years after Warner Bros. canceled its original release.
13.8 million visitsCulture
After 13.8 million visitors, this Smithsonian museum is planning a four-day reunion
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is marking ten years with four days of events at the museum and The Wharf.