Astronomy
- Astronomy
Amorphous space blob takes title for most distant galaxy
The new record holder for the most distant galaxy is a blob of 8 billion stars whose light took more than 13 billion years to reach Earth.
- Astronomy
‘Black Hole’ traces 100 years of a transformative idea
Implied by general relativity and proven by astronomical discoveries, black holes’ existence took decades for physicists to accept.
- Astronomy
Wandering planets, the smell of rain and more reader feedback
Readers consider how hard it would be to fashion Paleolithic tools, discuss what to call free-floating worlds and more.
- Planetary Science
How did Earth get its water?
Earth is a wet planet that formed in a dry part of the solar system. How our planet’s water arrived may be a story of big, bullying planets and ice-filled asteroids.
- Astronomy
Tiny explosions add up to heat corona
Millions of mini-explosions every second on the sun could solve the riddle of why the sun’s atmosphere is so much warmer than its surface.
- Planetary Science
The Martian Diaries
Curiosity has explored Mars for over two and a half years. What if NASA's rover kept a scrapbook?
- Astronomy
Lit-up gas clouds hint at galaxies’ violent pasts
Voorwerpjes, tendrils of gas that orbit galaxies, continue to glow tens of thousands of years after being blasted with ultraviolet radiation.
- Astronomy
Astronomers celebrating Hubble’s past focus on its future
Astronomers celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope by reflecting on its diversity and looking ahead to the future.
- Astronomy
Cosmic threesomes make some galaxies run away
Extremely rare, free-floating galaxies called compact ellipticals may have been ejected from their home clusters after a massive intergalactic meet-up.
- Astronomy
Cosmic rays misbehave in space station experiment
A puzzling feature in a new cosmic ray census may force physicists to rethink which cosmic objects send these speedy particles hurtling across the galaxy.
- Astronomy
Color differences could recalibrate cosmic acceleration rate
Color differences in a class of supernovas could lower estimates of how much dark energy is in the universe.
- Astronomy
A look back in time reveals Milky Way’s evolution
A sample of galaxies covering 11 billion years of cosmic history helps astronomers document how the Milky Way evolved.
