Astronomy

Space

Space missions spanned the solar system in 2024

Humankind accomplished new feats in space this year, including scooping up some of the moon’s farside and launching a probe to Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Astronomy

Astronomers see the astrosphere of a sunlike star for the first time

Finding a bubble of hot gas blown by the stellar wind from a young star gives researchers a peek at what our sun was like when it was young.

Astronomy

This is the first close-up image of a star beyond our galaxy

The first-ever close-up of an extragalactic star looks different than expected and might give a view of what stars look like at the end of their lives.

Astronomy

A cosmic census triples the known number of black holes in dwarf galaxies

The DESI survey reveals that active black holes in small galaxies are common. The findings may help reveal how the two cosmic bodies evolve together.

Astronomy

A star winked out of sight. Could it be a ‘failed supernova’? 

The dramatic dimming of a star in the nearby Andromeda galaxy could mark the birth of a black hole.

Astronomy

A zombie star’s spiky filaments shed light on a 12th century supernova

A 3-D map of the strange remains of a supernova seen in 1181 traces the odd tendrils of gas that jut out for several light-years in all directions.

Science & Society

Using AI, historians track how astronomy ideas spread in the 16th century

A new AI machine learning technique helped historians analyze 76,000 pages from astronomy textbooks spanning nearly two centuries.

Astronomy

Runaway stars could influence the cosmos far past their home galaxies

Dozens of stars fleeing a neighbor of the Milky Way suggest these escapees could have an outsized influence on their cosmic surroundings.

Space

50 years ago, satellites threatened astronomers’ view of the cosmos

As satellite launches ramp up and the spacecraft clog the skies, astronomers fear for their data.

Astronomy

Barnard’s star has at least one planet orbiting it after all

After decades of searching, a telltale gravitational wobble points to an exoplanet orbiting the nearby red dwarf every 3.15 days.

Astronomy

Betelgeuse has a tiny companion star hidden in plain sight

Betelgeuse has a sequel — in the form of a companion star that's about the same mass as the sun, orbiting it about once every 2,100 days.

Astronomy

Starlink satellites’ leaky radio waves obscure the cosmos

Starlink satellites unintentionally emit radio waves that appear more than 10 million times brighter than natural sources, as seen by ground-based radio telescopes.