How to plan the optimal path for spacecraft beyond the sun’s reach
Imagine living in a house with a special shield that protects you from harmful things outside. Our solar system has something quite similar called...
Scientists discover the Milky Way’s smallest, faintest satellite galaxy
The Milky Way has many satellite galaxies, most notably the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
They’re both visible to the naked eye from the southern...
This supernova lit up the sky in 1181. Here’s what it looks like now
Historical astronomical records from China and Japan recorded a supernova explosion in the year 1181.
It was in the constellation Cassiopeia and it shone as...
Astronomers catch a supernova explode almost in realtime
Catching a supernova in action is tricky business. There is no way to predict them, and they don’t occur very often.
Within the Milky Way...
Neutron stars are jetting material away at 40% the speed of light
It’s a well known fact that black holes absorb anything that falls into them.
Often before material ‘vanishes’ inside it forms into an accretion disk...
Scientists find a large black hole that “hiccups,” giving off plumes of gas.
Far away in a distant galaxy, about 800 million light years from Earth, a supermassive black hole has been caught behaving oddly, almost like...
Astronomers only knew of a single binary cepheid system. Now they just found nine...
Measuring the distance to far away objects in space can be tricky.
We don’t even know the precise distance to even our closest neighbors in...
New view reveals magnetic fields around our galaxy’s giant black hole
Fresh imagery from the Event Horizon Telescope traces the lines of powerful magnetic fields spiraling out from the edge of the supermassive black hole...
How distant galaxies light up the universe
In a universe filled with astonishing phenomena, a recent discovery has shed light on a unique kind of galaxy that harbors a cosmic secret.
These...
A single grain of ice could hold evidence of life on Europa and Enceladus
The Solar System’s icy ocean moons are primary targets in our search for life.
Missions to Europa and Enceladus will explore these moons from orbit,...