Does alien life exist? Astronomers have traditionally sought biosignatures — analyzing light from distant exoplanets for signs of things like oxygen — to find out if a planet could be habitable.

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The church publishes the ...

Science Fiction's Bet on Epsilon Eridani Pays Off Explore the intriguing Epsilon Eridani solar system, a hotbed for rocky planets and habitable planet candidates just 10.5 light years away.

Variable stars are a lot like macaroni salad. They’re commonplace, and yet most observers barely notice them. Red supergiants such as Betelgeuse irregularly change brightness by unpredictably growing ...

Japan has an extra-smart rocket cued up at the launch pad for a ride into space. The country's space agency plans to fire its first unmanned Epsilon rocket into orbit on Tuesday to demonstrate it is ...

A celestial sleight-of-hand is underway. The bright star Epsilon (ε) Aurigae began to dim this summer. Bit by bit, it will darken by almost a full magnitude on the astronomical brightness scale, ...