Cosmic Journey

Blue and red colors mingle on top of a black background.

Looking up, wondering what’s beyond, and exploring the mysteries of the cosmos have been human pursuits for thousands of years. This urge to know more continues, inspiring exploration, creativity, and scientific advancement. Join us on a cosmic journey that takes us from our closest star, the sun, to the far reaches of the universe with events and virtual resources from across the Smithsonian. Stay tuned for information about our Solstice Saturday celebration on Saturday, June 22.

Two people stand on the Mall in Washington, DC with a nebula effect in between them.

Four Amazing Chandra Instagram Experiences

The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into space in July 1999, and ever since it has been capturing amazing images of our universe. Now you can bring these cosmic objects into your home with augmented reality effects in Instagram. Snap a selfie with the Helix Nebula or share a video of the Vela Pulsar in your backyard with friends and read up on the facts included in the effects so you can better understand what you are seeing.

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Cosmic Events

Wonder & Awe

A new Smithsonian guide features stories and activities that connect us to our “place in space” through the lenses of art, culture, history, and science. The sky belongs to everyone—from the women who mapped the universe over a century ago, to the astronomers who captured the first picture of a black hole, to the artists who inspire us with celestial connections.

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Our Closest Star and Planetary Neighborhood

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) was established in 1890 as a research unit of the Smithsonian concentrating on studies of solar radiance. Today SAO's areas of research include virtually all branches of astrophysics as well as areas of earth and planetary sciences. Learn about the tool SAO built to probe the sun as it makes its closest approach to the sun in 2024. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum is also a home for Earth and planetary research and shares a wealth of information on our solar system and its history.

Smithsonian Collection Spotlight

Our Star: Our Sun

Smithsonian collections offer prismatic ways of understanding our relationship to the sun from art to astronomy to solar energy.

Smithsonian Sparks

A Solar Probe Is on Its Way to Touch the Sun

The journey will culminate in 2024 with its closest ever approach of 3.83 million miles.

National Air and Space Museum

Our Solar System

Discover our planetary neighborhood—as if from interstellar space, moving in toward our sun.

A chart containing early but accurate descriptions of planetary movements.

National Air and Space Museum

How Did We Discover the Planets?

Centuries of research carried out by curious stargazers before us recognized these otherworldly objects.

Our Universe

The Smithsonian has been answering big questions about our atmosphere and beyond for more than a century at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. We continue to ask and answer questions through original research at the National Air and Space Museum and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). Key areas of research at the CfA include exoplanets, the sun and solar weather, asteroids and comets, and "The Extreme Universe" that includes the study of black holes, pulsars, supernovae, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and magnetars.

The entire image is awash in intricate clouds, and swathes of superheated gas.

Around the Smithsonian

Mysteries of the Universe

Beginning with studies of our sun in 1890, the Smithsonian has been answering questions about our atmosphere and beyond.

Illustration of Chandra x-ray telescope in orbit.

Smithsonian Sparks

Meet Chandra

You most likely have heard of the Hubble Space Telescope that orbits 332 miles above Earth, but what about Chandra?

3D Digitization

Models of Images Taken by Chandra

Explore 3D models of stars at various stages of the stellar life cycle, created using images generated by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

lines mark the orientation of polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole

Smithsonian Sparks

A “Monster” in the Milky Way Galaxy

Two new studies have produced the first polarized light image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way.

Colorful illustration of a group of three people overlaid on a planet with sky in the background.

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Diaries of the Cosmos

Explore the universe and meet the people behind the science with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and NASA's Universe of Learning.

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

DIY Planet Search

Take your own images of distant solar systems, interpret and share the data you gather, and become part of a community of planet hunters!

Culture and the Cosmos

The Smithsonian’s resources lead us to connections across historical contexts, art movements, and cultural traditions to help us understand our place within space.

A set of Star Wars toys manufactured for the release of The Empire Strikes Back, 1980.

National Air and Space Museum

Science Fiction

Take a deep dive into the intersection of culture and the cosmos through a science fiction lens.

National Museum of Asian Art

The Cosmic Buddha

Explore a 3D rendering of the Cosmic Buddha, where you can zoom into depictions of a symbolic map of the Buddhist world.

National Museum of African Art

Milky Way Myth

Among the hunter-gatherers of sub-Saharan Africa known as the Khoisan, a myth has been passed on for generations.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Afrofuturism

From artists to astronauts, the themes of Afrofuturism inform ways of seeing and being across time and space.

National Museum of the American Indian

Maya Skies: Calendars, Seasons, and Time

The cycles of celestial bodies, particularly the Sun, form the basis of the Maya calendar. Celestial events on the Mayan calendar have been celebrated from ancient times to today.

This Barbie doll dressed in the Miss Astronaut outfit (1965)

National Air and Space Museum

Barbie: An Astronaut for the Ages

Learn about Barbie's long career as one of our nation's foremost space explorers. This 1965 Barbie was released 13 years before NASA accepted its first woman astronauts.

Human Spaceflight

In April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Soon after in May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, when he piloted the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight. In July of 1969, the first human stepped on the surface of the Moon. The cosmic journey continues today with the International Space Station and developments in commercial spaceflight.