Astronomy
- Astronomy
Spaceships could use blinking dead stars to chart their way
Timing signals from five pulsars allowed scientists to pinpoint an experiment’s place in space.
- Astronomy
Trio of dead stars upholds a key part of Einstein’s theory of gravity
A cosmic test fails to topple the strong equivalence principle.
- Astronomy
Pollution is endangering the future of astronomy
Astronomers discuss multiple threats from pollution that will make it harder to observe the night sky.
- Astronomy
See a 360-degree visualization of the center of the Milky Way
A 360-degree simulation, made with data from several telescopes, shows the center of the Milky Way as seen from the galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
- Astronomy
Fast radio bursts may be from a neutron star orbiting a black hole
A repeating fast radio burst has twisted waves, suggesting its home has an unusually strong magnetic field.
- Life
Readers wrangle with definition of ‘species’
Readers asked about the definition of "species," a new atomic clock and how a neutron star collision produces heavy elements.
- Science & Society
We’ll be watching the skies, plus a lot more, this year
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill predicts 2018 could be a year full of important space discoveries.
- Astronomy
White dwarf’s inner makeup is mapped for the first time
The first map of the internal composition of a white dwarf star shows these stellar corpses contain more oxygen than expected, challenging stellar evolution theories.
- Astronomy
Aliens ruled out for why Tabby’s star flickers
The first real-time observations of Tabby’s star flickering put the final nail in the “alien megastructure” coffin.
- Astronomy
86 stars get official names
The International Astronomical Union has released 86 newly official star names, based, in part, on historical star names from various indigenous cultures.
- Science & Society
Watch our most-viewed videos of 2017
Cassini’s demise, cuttlefish and the Curiosity rover topped our list of most popular videos of 2017.
- Planetary Science
Here’s what you might have missed in space this year
Missions to Jupiter and Saturn made big headlines, and 2017 also saw exciting updates from missions of years past.
