Space & Future
Up to a third of stars ate some of their planets
In recent years, astronomers have developed techniques to measure the metal content of stars with extreme accuracy.
With that capability, astronomers have examined sibling stars...
Volcanic caves on Earth offer clues to finding life on Mars
Scientists are exploring Earth's ancient volcanic caves to uncover secrets that could help us search for life on Mars.
These caves, called lava tubes, form...
Scientists capture stunning images of nearby galaxies in unprecedented detail
Astronomers from the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have unveiled breathtaking images of five galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood, taken with the Italian VST...
The Large Magellanic Cloud survived its closest approach to the Milky Way
The Large Magellanic Cloud is a small galaxy, just a tenth of the Milky Way’s mass.
It is about 160,000 light years away, which is...
What’s behind the Martian methane mystery
The seasonal variations of methane in the Martian atmosphere is an intriguing clue that there might be life hiding under the surface of the...
Bang! Meet the big ‘Red Monsters’ of the early universe.
Astronomers have spotted for the first time a trio of supermassive galaxies that were already fully formed in the first billion years of the...
A giant meteorite impact 3.26 billion years ago helped push life forward
The Earth has always been bombarded with rocks from space. It’s true to say though that there were more rocks flying around the Solar...
Are we alone? New model explores the odds of intelligent life in the universe
Astrophysicists from Durham University have developed a new model to estimate the likelihood of intelligent life forming in our universe—and even in hypothetical universes...
Astronomers discover ultra-dense ‘super-Earth’ that’s as heavy as lead
An international team of scientists has found a fascinating new planetary system around a star similar to our sun.
The system, located about 750 light-years...
The best way to find planet nine might be hundreds of tiny telescopes
Ever since William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781, astronomers have been eager to find new planets on the outer edge of the solar system.
But...
A new look at the most ancient light in the universe
In the earliest moments of the Universe, the first photons were trapped in a sea of ionized gas.
They scattered randomly with the hot nuclei...
Astronomers defy the zone of avoidance to find hundreds of new galaxies
There is a region of the sky where astronomers fear to look. Filled with dark clouds of dust, it hides an unseen mass.
A mass...
Deep Space
Baby stars discharge “sneezes” of gas and dust
I’m really not sure what to call it but a ‘dusty sneeze’ is probably as good as anything.
We have known for some years that...
Astronomers make the most robust catalog to trace rare, cosmic explosions
The galactic homes of 84 short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) — produced by the collision of two neutron stars — have now been pinpointed in...
Saturn surpasses Jupiter after the discovery of 20 new moons and you can help...
Move over Jupiter; Saturn is the new moon king.
A team led by Carnegie's Scott S. Sheppard has found 20 new moons orbiting Saturn. This...
AI helps astronomers find stars ‘eating’ planets in the Milky Way
Astronomers have recently discovered hundreds of white dwarf stars in our Milky Way galaxy that are "polluted" by planets they've consumed.
These stars are valuable...
Scientists reveal the mystery of disappearing exoplanet orbits
A recent study led by scientists at Durham University has unveiled a new discovery that sheds light on a puzzling phenomenon: the gradual decay...