Space & Future
Everything we thought we knew about dark energy could be wrong
For nearly 30 years, scientists have believed that a mysterious force called dark energy is causing the universe to expand faster and faster.
But a...
The Sun is changing and we don’t know why
Put your ear to the ground in the right place and you can hear a train coming from miles away.
Long before it appears on...
How Giant Galaxies Burned Bright and Died Young In the Early Universe
One of the biggest mysteries in astronomy is why some of the largest galaxies in the early universe stopped making stars surprisingly early in...
Red Dwarf Stars Caught Devouring Earth-Like Planets
Astronomers have discovered some of the clearest evidence yet that stars can consume their own planets.
In a new study published in the journal Monthly...
Something just passed between us and a distant star
On the night of 18 December 2019, a star in our satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, briefly got brighter.
Not dramatically nor explosively, just...
Ancient “Cosmic Cities” Were Already Shaping Galaxies Soon After the Big Bang
Astronomers have discovered that galaxies were already being shaped by their surroundings just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang, much earlier than scientists...
Black Hole “Gold Rush” Reveals Hundreds of Hidden Cosmic Collisions
Astronomers have unveiled the largest collection yet of gravitational wave detections, marking a major leap forward in our understanding of black holes and the...
The Sun just did something nobody expected and it kept going for 19 days
The Sun is not known for being quiet!
It blasts out energy equivalent to 100 billion nuclear bombs every single second, routinely hurls billion tonne...
Ancient Region Near Jupiter May Have Created Six Types of Meteorites
Scientists have discovered that a region just outside Jupiter’s orbit may have acted like a giant “planet factory” in the early solar system, producing...
A Beautiful Death How a Dying Star Created the Crystal Ball Nebula
Planetary nebulae like the Crystal Ball Nebula (NGC 1514) are sort of like stellar obituaries.
Though crystal balls supposedly reveal the future, the Crystal Ball...
Scientists Detect Sand-Like Clouds That Vanish Daily on Alien World
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have discovered unusual weather patterns on a giant exoplanet nearly 700 light-years away from Earth.
The planet, called...
Webb Telescope finds methane-rich atmosphere on rare Saturn-sized exoplanet
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a giant planet with an atmosphere rich in methane, offering scientists a rare look at...
Deep Space
Why the asteroids Bennu and Ryugu have their signature “spinning-top” shapes
Scientists with NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, are gaining a new understanding of asteroid Bennu's carbon-rich material and signature "spinning-top" shape.
The team,...
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope ends 16-year mission of discovery
For more than 16 years, the infrared observatory revealed new wonders in our solar system, our galaxy and beyond. Its legacy lays the groundwork...
Astronomers discover an unusual star with two spiral arms
Astronomers using the ALMA Observatory have discovered an unusual, massive star near the center of our galaxy, a star that has two spiral arms.
The...
Where are all these rogue planets coming from?
There’s a population of planets that drifts through space untethered to any stars. They’re called rogue planets or free-floating planets (FFPs.)
Some FFPs form as...
Could the Milky Way turn dangerous? Discovery of distant galaxy raises big questions
A stunning new discovery has revealed a massive spiral galaxy, located nearly 1 billion light-years away, that is doing something scientists didn’t think was...