Astronomy

Astronomy

By the light of a starry eruption

Astronomers calculating the brightness of a supernova explosion witnessed in the 11th century estimate that it was likely the most brilliant stellar event in recorded history.

Astronomy

Honors for Science News astronomy writer

Science News astronomy writer Ron Cowen is a recipient of the third David N. Schramm award for distinguished writing on high-energy astrophysics.

Astronomy

Cosmic Afterglow: Gamma-ray bursts may one-up themselves

New observations suggest that gamma-ray bursts may be even more energetic than scientists had estimated.

Astronomy

Planet’s Slim-Fast Plan: Extrasolar orb is too close for comfort

A new study of the atmosphere of a planet outside the solar system suggests that some orbs will vaporize if they orbit too close to their parent star.

Astronomy

Ordinary matter: Lost and found

Astronomers believe they have finally found the whereabouts of most of the ordinary matter in the universe.

Astronomy

Death of a pioneer

Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to reach the fringes of the solar system, appears to have sent its last feeble signal to Earth on Jan. 22.

Astronomy

Cosmic Doomsday Scenario: Phantom energy would trigger the Big Rip

According to a new model, the universe may end with a Big Rip—every galaxy, star, planet, molecule, and atom torn asunder and the cosmos ceasing to exist some 21 billion years from now.

Astronomy

Mature Before Their Time

Some galaxies were in place and forming stars at a prolific rate when the universe, now 13.7 billion years old, was just an 800-million-year-old whippersnapper.

Astronomy

Cosmic Revelations: Satellite homes in on the infant universe

A new portrait of the infant universe pins down the age of the universe—13.7 billion years—to an unprecedented accuracy of 1 percent, provides new evidence that the universe began with a brief but humongous growth spurt, and reveals that it already contained a plethora of stars when it was just 200 million years old.

Astronomy

Starry eruption on a grand scale

Monitoring the bloated star Rho Cassiopeiae, astronomers report they witnessed an explosion that blasted more material into space than any other stellar explosion ever observed.

Astronomy

Gamma-ray burst leaves ephemeral afterglow

A ground-based telescope on automatic pilot has taken one of the earliest images ever recorded of the visible-light afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic flashes of radiation in the universe.

Astronomy

In the Beginning: Dark matter builds galaxies, feeds quasars

Cosmologists say they have found compelling evidence that massive galaxies were already in place when the universe was less than a billion years old.