Astronomy
- Astronomy
Two spacecraft created their first images of an artificial solar eclipse
The Proba-3 spacecraft succeed at creating solar eclipses, kicking off a two-year mission to study the sun’s mysterious outer atmosphere, the corona.
- Astronomy
Black hole–shredded megastars power a new class of cosmic explosions
These explosions, called extreme nuclear transients, shine for longer than typical supernovas and get 30 to 1,000 times as bright.
- Astronomy
A dwarf galaxy just might upend the Milky Way’s predicted demise
The Milky Way may merge with the Large Magellanic Cloud in 2 billion years, not Andromeda, contrary to previous findings.
- Astronomy
A gas cloud 5,500 times as massive as the sun lurks nearby
At 300 light-years away, the interstellar cloud is the closest of its kind ever found to Earth and the largest apparent single structure in the sky.
- Space
See how the Hubble Space Telescope is still revolutionizing astronomy
Hubble is still going strong 35 years after it was launched into space. Celebrate its anniversary with some out-of-this-world images.
- Astronomy
A gas clump in the Milky Way’s neighborhood might be a ‘dark galaxy’
A blob of gas seen outside the Milky Way could be a type of starless, dark matter–dominated galaxy. Some scientists are skeptical.
- Astronomy
A claimed hint of alien life whips up spirited debate
Astronomers have a lot of thoughts about the latest paper claiming we’ve found the strongest hints of alien life yet on the distant planet K2 18b.
- Space
A NASA rover finally found Mars’ missing carbon
The Curiosity rover identified hidden caches of the mineral siderite, which could help explain why Mars lost its habitable climate.
- Astronomy
Yes, there really is a black hole on the loose in Sagittarius
Astronomers now agree: They’ve spotted the first isolated stellar-mass black hole ever seen.
- Astronomy
A nebula’s X-ray glow may come from a destroyed giant planet
Decades of constant X-ray emission from the Helix Nebula’s white dwarf suggest debris from a Jupiter-sized planet steadily rains upon the star.
- Space
The nearest single star to Earth has four small planets
Last year, astronomers announced that a planet orbits Barnard’s star. Now, researchers have confirmed the existence of three more.
- Cosmology
New baby pictures of the universe deepen a cosmic mystery
Cosmic microwave background data support cosmology’s standard model but retain a mystery about the universe’s expansion rate.
