Space & Future
How dark matter could have built massive black holes after the big bang
Astronomers have long been puzzled by the discovery of extremely large black holes in the early universe.
Some of these black holes, found less than...
How a black hole and a shredded star could light up a galaxy
In 2014, a strange cloudy object called G2 made a close approach to Sagittarius A*, (Sag A*) the supermassive black hole at the heart...
Two monsters, one galaxy, and a collision 100 years away!
Space is full of objects that push the boundaries of imagination, but few do it quite as effectively as a black hole.
At its simplest,...
Scientists reveal where water is hiding on the moon after billions of years
Scientists have long suspected that water exists on the moon, but exactly how it got there—and where it is most concentrated—has remained a mystery.
Now,...
Moon dust tells a hidden story: How space delivered and transformed life’s building blocks
A new study based on samples from China’s Chang'e-5 and Chang'e-6 missions is helping scientists understand how the basic ingredients of life arrived and...
It’s not supposed to be like this: A giant planet orbits a small star
The nebular hypothesis states that stars and the planets that orbit them form from the same reservoir of material, called a solar nebula.
It's the...
Astronomers finally spot vast hydrogen clouds that fueled early galaxies
For decades, scientists believed the early universe was filled with enormous amounts of hydrogen gas—the basic ingredient needed to form stars.
But proving this idea...
Astronomers discover two supermassive black holes on the verge of collision
Supermassive black holes sit at the centers of most large galaxies, and they are some of the most powerful objects in the universe.
Scientists believe...
Why Jupiter has more giant moons than Saturn
Jupiter and Saturn are the two largest planets in our solar system, and both are surrounded by dozens—even hundreds—of moons.
But their moon systems look...
A new kind of star remnant? Scientists find two mysterious cosmic twins
Astronomers have discovered two unusual stellar objects that may belong to a completely new class of star remnants.
These objects, nicknamed “Gandalf” and “Moon-Sized,” share...
Scientists discover one of the most pristine stars ever found in the universe
Astronomers have discovered an extremely rare star that offers a glimpse into the earliest days of the universe.
The star, named SDSS J0715-7334, is considered...
Scientists discover bizarre new state of matter deep inside Uranus and Neptune
Deep inside the distant planets Uranus and Neptune, matter may exist in a bizarre form unlike anything we experience on Earth.
A new study suggests...
Deep Space
Scientists discover the second alignment plane of our solar system
A study of comet motions indicates that the Solar System has a second alignment plane.
Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that...
Why planting a flag on the moon was so hard?
When Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the United States flag on the moon 50 years ago on July 20, 1969,...
Why disk galaxies have spiral arms
In a new study, researchers have made a new discovery that may explain how disk galaxies maintain the shape of their spiral arms.
Their finding...
Massive stars have the power to shape solar systems
Stars shape their solar systems. It’s true of ours, and it’s true of others. But for some massive stars, their power to shape still-forming...
The sun gets meteor showers too, but they’re very different
The Sun dominates the Solar System in almost every way imaginable, yet much of its inner workings have been hidden from humanity.
Over the centuries,...