Space & Future
Gaia space telescope spots possible planets forming around baby stars
How do planets like Earth and Jupiter come into existence?
Astronomers are beginning to answer that question thanks to new observations from the European Space...
NASA’s Perseverance Rover is ready for many more miles—and new discoveries on Mars
After nearly five years on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is proving it was built to last.
Since landing in February 2021, the six-wheeled robot has...
Astronomers witness a violent space collision around a nearby star
Astronomers have captured something extraordinary: the aftermath of a violent collision between large space rocks in another planetary system.
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, scientists...
This shape-shifting wheel could help robots explore the moon’s hidden caves
Exploring the Moon’s surface is challenging enough, but reaching what lies beneath it is even harder.
Deep pits and long lava tubes on the Moon...
Why Saturn’s moon Titan might be less oceanic—and more complex—than thought
For years, scientists believed that Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, hid a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its thick, icy shell.
This idea made Titan...
Why most exoplanets are magma worlds
In astronomy, there is a concept called “degeneracy”.
It has nothing to do with delinquent people, but instead is used to describe data that could...
The first alien civilization we encounter will be extremely loud
For decades, science fiction writers have tried their best to prepare us for eventual contact with aliens. Their efforts are dominated by several recurrent...
Scientists find a crack in a 50-year-old law of the universe
Astronomers may have uncovered evidence that challenges one of the longest-standing ideas about quasars, the brilliant beacons powered by supermassive black holes.
A new international...
Webb finds signs of a thick atmosphere on an ultra-hot super-Earth
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found the strongest evidence yet that a rocky planet outside our solar system can hold on...
Scientists challenge the idea that every galaxy has a black hole
A new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory suggests that many small galaxies may not contain supermassive black holes at their centers after all.
This...
Scientists discover a hidden black hole monster from the early universe
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a surprising cosmic impostor lurking in the early universe.
The object, a distant galaxy nicknamed...
A real-life Tatooine: Astronomers spot a rare planet orbiting two suns up close
Astronomers have captured a rare and cinematic sight: a distant planet orbiting not one, but two suns, much like the fictional world of Tatooine...
Deep Space
Why is Webb Telescope having so much trouble with the TRAPPIST-1 system
When the James Webb Space Telescope was launched it came with a fanfare expecting amazing things, much like the Hubble Space Telescope.
One of JWST’s...
Why the moon glitters with ancient glass beads
When Apollo astronauts walked on the moon in the 1970s, they made all kinds of unexpected discoveries.
One of the most surprising was the sight...
Scientists develop novel transistors to explore Jupiter’s Europa
Europa is more than just one of Jupiter’s many moons – it’s also one of most promising places in the solar system to look...
Scientists find evidence of cosmic background gravitational waves
Scientists have discovered that the universe makes a sound. Think of it like a very low hum. This hum is caused by something called...
Scientists have observed AT2021lwx, the most powerful non-quasar transient ever seen
Imagine you're looking up at the night sky, filled with stars. Every so often, a star might suddenly get very, very bright. This is...