Space & Future
Mysterious cosmic rays are challenging what scientists thought they knew about the universe
Millions of years ago, a massive star exploded somewhere far away in our galaxy.
During this violent event, called a supernova, the dying star blasted...
The universe’s famous ‘pink planet’ has salty clouds in its sky
Astronomers have discovered an unexpected surprise on the famous “Pink Planet,” a strange world known as GJ504b.
Using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST),...
New Mars rock discovery could reveal secrets of the red planet’s ancient past
Scientists have discovered a completely new type of rock from Mars and, for the first time, identified the mineral garnet in a Martian sample.
The...
More than 30 giant dust devils spotted twisting through ancient Martian canyons
The European Space Agency (ESA) has captured remarkable new images of dozens of giant dust devils swirling across an ancient canyon system on Mars.
The...
Ancient black holes may be triggering exploding stars across the universe, study finds
Scientists are exploring a fascinating idea: some of the brilliant stellar explosions seen across the universe may have been triggered by tiny black holes...
Lava planet has hydrogen-rich, active atmosphere
It’s 2158, and you’re chugging away on your PhD in Planetary Volcanology from the University of Utopia Planitia on Mars. Graduate students still get...
Astronomers detect the fuel for star formation in some of the universe’s earliest galaxies
Astronomers have made a major breakthrough by directly detecting the gas that fueled star formation in some of the universe’s earliest galaxies.
The discovery offers...
Ancient stellar debris is still falling on Earth after 100 million years, study finds
Tiny traces of material from a giant cosmic explosion are still falling to Earth more than 100 million years after the event occurred, according...
Astronomers discover Sun-like star that likely swallowed one of its planets
A team of astronomers has found strong evidence that a star similar to our sun may have eaten one of its own planets.
The star,...
A star’s death throes involves a lot of kicking
When stars like our Sun age, they puff up into red giants.
Their bubbling outer mass gradually escapes into space, and their remaining cores contract...
The best place to look for alien megastructures might be moon dust
Our search for technosignatures - clear signs of advanced civilizations beyond Earth - takes many forms.
Many are driven by the famous Drake equation, which...
A tiny lab-made universe may help solve the mystery of time
Time seems like one of the most basic parts of everyday life. We use clocks to measure it, plan our days around it, and...
Deep Space
NASA pushes human moon landing back to 2027
The Artemis moon landings are delayed again due to technical difficulties. This time, the problem is with the Orion spacecraft heat shield.
NASA administrator Bill...
Strange winds blow through this exoplanet’s atmosphere
Some exoplanets have characteristics totally alien to our Solar System. Hot Jupiters are one such type.
They can have orbital periods of less than 10...
Hubble Telescope has accidentally discovered over a thousand asteroids
The venerable Hubble Space Telescope is like a gift that keeps on giving.
Not only is it still making astronomical discoveries after more than thirty...
Did asteroids invent gum billions of years ago?
What is “gum”? Most people have probably never considered this question, and might answer something like a chewy material you can put in your...
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...