Cosmic Vistas

Explore the Milky Way through time, from the mythology of ancient skywatchers to modern scientists mapping it from the inside out. Beautiful high-definition imagery offers a visually breathtaking look at our home galaxy.

Throughout history, staring up at the night sky has fuelled our collective imagination, giving rise to great art and creative insights. Attend the birth of the universe and learn everything science has discovered about the Big Bang.

Move over, Mars. Thanks to NASA missions like Mariner and Messenger, scientists are finally learning the secrets Mercury has to reveal. Take an in-depth look at a planet, one of the closest to Earth, that has eluded astronomers for centuries.

Not just another form of light, cosmic rays carry details about powerful yet unseen processes at work thousands and even millions of light years away. Get a close look at how they are produced and what they can tell us about the universe.

Explore the question of the Fermi paradox: Given a few reasonable assumptions about the chance of life arising elsewhere in the universe and the distances between the stars, why haven’t we uncovered another civilization?

Get a closer look at Landsat 8, the $900 million advanced planetary explorer that’s designed to peer across multiple wavelengths. Witness complex and ever-changing details about our planet that are undetectable by the human eye.