Astronauts are going to check if there are microbes on the outside of the...
On Thursday January 30th, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are doing a 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Among other goals, they’ll be...
Why the first stars couldn’t grow forever
Star formation in the early Universe was a vigorous process that created gigantic stars.
Called Population 3 stars, these giants were massive, extremely luminous stars,...
Did space rocks deliver organic material to dwarf planet Ceres?
Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may have received organic material from space, according to new research.
Scientists believe...
Scientists witness dying exoplanets disintegrating in real time
Astronomers have found two planets around two separate stars that are succumbing to their stars’ intense heat.
Both are disintegrating before our telescopic eyes, leaving...
Astronomers spot a giant radio galaxy 32 times the size of the Milky Way
Astronomers have discovered a giant radio galaxy with plasma jets stretching an incredible 3.3 million light-years—32 times the size of the Milky Way.
This massive...
The universe is messier than we thought, finds study
Over the past 13.8 billion years, the universe has grown into a vast, intricate web of galaxies, stars, and cosmic structures.
But according to new...
Could ocean worlds support life?
There might be a type of exoplanet without dry land.
They’re called “Hycean” worlds, a portmanteau of ‘hydrogen’ and ‘ocean.’ They’re mostly or entirely covered...
Exoplanets need special conditions to survive space weather, Says NASA study
A new study by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton highlights the challenges planets face when orbiting red dwarf stars,...
Even more planets were hiding in Kepler’s fields
Kepler was one of the most successful exoplanet-hunting missions so far.
It discovered 2,600 confirmed exoplanets – almost half of the total – in its...
This quasar may have helped turn the lights on for the universe
A Yale-led team of astronomers has detected an intensely brightening and dimming quasar that may help explain how some objects in the early universe...