Space & Future
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede may still be building its heart of metal
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is already famous for being the largest moon in the solar system. At more than 3,200 miles wide, it is even...
Scientists find a new way to listen to the “ringing” of black holes
When two black holes crash into each other, the event is one of the most violent and powerful collisions in the universe.
The two objects...
Astrophysicists use ‘space archaeology’ to trace the history of a spiral galaxy
Billions of years ago, a young spiral galaxy began to grow in a crowded part of the universe.
It pulled in gas and small companion...
Scientists solve a cosmic mystery hidden inside the Perseus galaxy cluster
An international team of scientists has uncovered new clues about how stars lived and died billions of years ago by studying one of the...
Scientists may have detected signs of dark matter in black hole collisions
Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in modern science.
Astronomers believe it makes up most of the matter in the universe, yet nobody...
Ancient Martian mega-flood carved a valley as long as Italy
A massive valley on Mars may hold some of the strongest evidence yet that enormous floods once rushed across the red planet billions of...
Astronomers finally capture how turbulent space warps light across the galaxy
Astronomers have directly observed how turbulent gas and charged particles floating between stars can bend and distort light traveling across the galaxy.
The discovery gives...
Astronomers discover violent past hidden inside a “calm” galaxy cluster
A giant galaxy cluster once thought to be one of the calmest places in the universe is now revealing signs of a violent past.
Astronomers...
Stardust trapped in Antarctic ice reveals tens of thousands of years of solar system’s...
When you think of outer space, you're likely picturing stars, planets and moons. But much of space is filled with clouds of gas, plasma...
How one tiny star change can transform an entire galaxy
A galaxy may look calm and stable from far away, but new research suggests it can actually behave in surprisingly chaotic ways.
Scientists at Leiden...
What it would have been like to experience the dinosaur‑killing asteroid Armageddon
A great Tyrannosaurus rex strides through the conifer trees of her territory, sniffing the air.
She picks up the scent from the carcass of a...
Hidden molecular patterns may reveal alien life on Mars and Europa
For decades, scientists searching for life beyond Earth have focused on one big question: what kinds of molecules should they look for on other...
Deep Space
Basketball-sized meteorites strike the surface of Mars every day
NASA’s InSight Mars Lander faced some challenges during its time on the red planet’s surface.
Its mole instrument struggled to penetrate the compacted Martian soil,...
Scientists upgrade their techniques for hunting Venus-like planets
With the first paper compiling all known information about planets like Venus beyond our solar system, scientists are the closest they’ve ever been to...
Some young stars are born crooked—and so are their solar systems
Scientists have long assumed that stars and the disks of gas and dust that form planets around them start out spinning in the same...
Spinning star may have cracked a giant galactic “bone”
Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and powerful radio telescopes have likely solved a cosmic mystery—what caused a dramatic break in a massive structure...
Laser-powered propulsion could cut travel to Alpha Centauri to just 20 years
Traveling to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, is far beyond the reach of today’s rockets. With current technology, such a journey would take...