Space & Future
Scientists find a crack in a 50-year-old law of the universe
Astronomers may have uncovered evidence that challenges one of the longest-standing ideas about quasars, the brilliant beacons powered by supermassive black holes.
A new international...
Webb finds signs of a thick atmosphere on an ultra-hot super-Earth
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found the strongest evidence yet that a rocky planet outside our solar system can hold on...
Scientists challenge the idea that every galaxy has a black hole
A new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory suggests that many small galaxies may not contain supermassive black holes at their centers after all.
This...
Scientists discover a hidden black hole monster from the early universe
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a surprising cosmic impostor lurking in the early universe.
The object, a distant galaxy nicknamed...
A real-life Tatooine: Astronomers spot a rare planet orbiting two suns up close
Astronomers have captured a rare and cinematic sight: a distant planet orbiting not one, but two suns, much like the fictional world of Tatooine...
Scientists draw the first detailed map of the Sun’s “point of no return”
Astronomers have created the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the Sun’s atmosphere, revealing a dynamic and changing boundary where solar...
Earth may be slowly feeding the moon with water and nitrogen, study finds
The Moon is often seen as a dry, lifeless world covered in dust.
But new research suggests its surface may hold more useful material than...
Scientists capture a rare cosmic dance caused by a rapidly rotating black hole
Astronomers have made an extraordinary discovery that brings one of Einstein’s lesser-known predictions to life.
For the first time, scientists have observed a swirling distortion...
Uranus and Neptune could be “rock giants,” not just ice worlds
For decades, scientists have believed that Uranus and Neptune are “ice giants,” planets made mostly of icy materials like water, ammonia and methane.
But a...
How Mars controls Earth’s climate
Earth's climate has swung between ice ages and warmer periods for millions of years, driven by subtle changes in our planet's orbit and axial...
Most normal matter in the universe isn’t found in planets, stars or galaxies –where...
If you look across space with a telescope, you’ll see countless galaxies, most of which host large central black holes, billions of stars and...
Scientists map the largest structures in the universe
clusters of galaxies.
These gigantic structures, which contain hundreds or even thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity, offer important clues about how the universe...
Deep Space
Red giants offer a new way to measure distance in the universe
For nearly three decades now, it’s been clear that the expansion of the Universe is speeding up.
Some unknown quantity, dramatically dubbed ‘dark energy’, is...
Exoplanets in habitable zones may not host life due to stars’ flares
The discovery of terrestrial exoplanets, planets that orbit stars outside the solar system, has been one of the most significant developments in modern astronomy.
Several...
Why the Moon’s surface is rich in ingredients that could make water
A new study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has shown that when the solar wind careens onto the Moon's surface, they enrich the...
This sure looks like the movements of a glacier across ancient Mars
It is a scientific certainty that Mars was once a much different place, with a denser atmosphere, warmer temperatures, and where water once flowed.
Evidence...
Asteroid Psyche maps reveal an ancient world of metal and rock
Later this year, NASA is set to launch a probe the size of a tennis court to the asteroid belt, a region between the...