Space & Future
Astronomers uncover long-lost black hole hidden among 10 million stars
Astronomers have discovered the first known stellar-mass black hole hiding inside the massive star cluster Omega Centauri, solving part of a mystery that has...
Hidden oceans? Common alien planets may be concealing vast oceans, study finds
Some of the most common planets in our galaxy may be hiding far more water than scientists can currently detect—even with the powerful James...
Scientists detect a sugar in deep space for the first time, offering new clues...
For the first time, scientists have discovered a sugar molecule floating in interstellar space, a breakthrough that could help explain how some of the...
Astronomers discover four dead stars in our cosmic neighborhood
Astronomers have uncovered four previously hidden white dwarfs surprisingly close to Earth, revealing that even our own corner of the galaxy still holds major...
Chemistry reveals the origins of an interstellar comet
Somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy is an old star that has lost one of its comets.
By some quirk of orbital mechanics, that frozen...
Scientists recreate a black hole energy trick in the lab without anything spinning
More than 50 years ago, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir Roger Penrose proposed an extraordinary idea.
He suggested that it might be possible to extract energy...
Scientists capture the tiny ‘drift’ that signals the birth of a star
How does a new star begin?
It is a question astronomers have been trying to answer for decades.
Now, scientists have observed an important process that...
Most of moon’s water likely remains chemically bound in its deep interior
After decades of analyzing reams of lunar rocks back here on Earth, the canonical view of the Moon was that it was anhydrous; that...
Scientists discover how an exoplanet with endless day and night could still support life
An unusual planet located about 48.5 light-years from Earth may seem far too extreme for life.
One side is permanently exposed to intense heat, while...
A rapidly growing black hole in a nearby galaxy could provide a window into...
An international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) recently made a first-ever discovery when observing SDSS J110546.07+145202.4,...
Astronomers Find Clouds Can Heat Alien Planets by More Than 1,000°C
Scientists have discovered that clouds on distant planets may be doing much more than blocking our view.
New research suggests these clouds can trap heat...
Astronomers uncover a hidden history inside the Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest and most famous objects in the night sky.
It can even be seen without a telescope, and...
Deep Space
Scientists detect a black hole swallowing a neutron star
Scientists, including from Australian National University (ANU), say they have detected a black hole swallowing a neutron star for the first time.
Neutron stars and...
This planet-forming disk has more water than Earth’s oceans
Astronomers have detected a large amount of water vapour in the protoplanetary disk around a young star.
There’s at least three times as much water...
Astronomers witness the awesome power of a black hole’s “dancing jets”
Astronomers have long been fascinated by the powerful jets emanating from black holes.
These jets result from gas and dust being pulled into the black...
Astronomers use earthquakes to understand glitches on neutron stars
A team of astronomers have used a model of earthquakes to understand glitches in the timing of pulsars.
Their results suggest that pulsars may have...
Scientists detect the oldest star clusters in the universe
Astronomers have used the James Webb Telescope (JWST) to identify the most distant globular clusters ever discovered – dense groups of millions of stars...