Chicago at night is a dazzling sight — but the skyline and streetlamps that light up our evenings also make it harder to see the natural wonders of the night sky. Still, Chicago Astronomer founder Joe Guzman, better known as Astro Joe, says there’s plenty to see — you just need to know how to look.

An Atlas V rocket blasted off before dawn, sending Lucy on a roundabout journey spanning nearly 4 billion miles. Researchers grew emotional describing the successful launch — lead scientist Hal Levison said it was like witnessing the birth of a child. “Go Lucy!” he urged.

Sunny days and cool nights are the key to brilliant fall foliage. If the weather cooperates, expect things to take a turn for the colorful as Chicago’s trees hit their peak within the next two weeks.

During Thursday’s City Council meeting, alderpeople introduced a resolution calling for the Department of Streets and Sanitation to reinstate treatment of the city’s remaining parkway ash trees — numbering close to 50,000 — and also develop a systematic program for removing and replacing infested trees.

William Shatner, 90, became the oldest person in space, eclipsing the previous record — set by a passenger on a similar jaunt on a Jeff Bezos spaceship in July — by eight years.

A NASA mission to deflect an asteroid – it’s been the premise for more than one Hollywood movie – but next month NASA launches its DART mission that aims to do it for real.

Google is cracking down on digital ads promoting false climate change claims or being used to make money from such content, hoping to limit revenue for climate change deniers and stop the spread of misinformation on its platforms.

Debris from houses, shops and offices had to go somewhere. The rubble was dumped off the lakefront east of Michigan Avenue, and if that sounds like the location of Grant Park, it is.

The recommended 2022 budget will keep the doors open and the lights on, but doesn’t make a dent in the district’s $64 million in unfunded maintenance, pension obligations or goal to acquire more land. For those resources, the district is pinning its hopes on an upcoming property tax referendum.

Conservationists are in a race against the clock to save a five-acre patch of rare Illinois prairie from being bulldozed as part of a 280-acre expansion of the Chicago Rockford International Airport's cargo operation.

Plans are underway to keep organic waste out of Chicago's landfills, officials said.

Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves, founded in 2020 to rally support for the state’s protected natural areas, is now launching a major recruitment effort to grow its ranks and muster a corps of volunteers to steward the sites in a race against invasive species and climate change.

The 11-year-old tiger had received her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine developed for animals. The zoo is now awaiting test results for other big cats that are exhibiting symptoms similar to the infected tiger’s.

Chicago scientist Heather Skeen studied the gut bacteria of the migratory Kirtland’s warbler and made a surprising discovery with potentially far-reaching implications.

One of North America’s most common native bumble bee species, the aptly named American bumble bee, is on the ropes. Among the threats to its survival: competition from honey bees.

Death’s come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government on Wednesday declared them extinct.