Space & Future
Your dog’s dinner could be warming the planet more than your own
Many dog owners carefully think about what they eat for the sake of the planet—but new research suggests they may want to pay just...
How ‘red geyser’ galaxies stay silent for billions of years
Some of the universe’s largest galaxies have gone strangely quiet.
They stopped forming new stars billions of years ago and have remained dormant ever since—even...
Dark stars could be the missing link in the universe’s earliest mysteries
A new study suggests that a strange and long-theorized type of object called a dark star could help explain several major mysteries uncovered by...
Thin ice may have kept ancient Martian lakes alive for decades
For years, scientists have faced a puzzling contradiction about Mars.
On one hand, the planet is covered with ancient lake beds, shorelines, and sediment layers...
A new study finds a subtle dance between dark matter and neutrinos
Time again for a tale of things dark and mysterious. A tale of dark matter. It's a well-told tale, but this time it involves...
This system reveals how super-Earths are born
One of the best things about being able to see thousands of exoplanetary systems is that we’re able to track them in different stages...
Hidden plasma rings around red dwarfs may shape the fate of their planets
When astronomers think about whether distant planets could support life, they often focus on the planets themselves.
But a growing body of research shows that...
How ancient Mars may have kept its lakes liquid
For years, scientists have puzzled over a contradiction on Mars.
The planet’s surface is covered with features that look unmistakably like ancient lake beds—shorelines, layered...
Scientists track a powerful solar region for a record 94 days
In 2024, the Sun put on one of its most dramatic shows in decades.
A single highly active region on its surface unleashed the strongest...
Young galaxies grow up fast, study finds
Astronomers have captured the most detailed look yet at faraway galaxies at the peak of their youth, an active time when the adolescent galaxies...
Astronomers see a supernova from 10 billion years ago using nature’s own telescope
Astronomers have discovered something truly remarkable: the first-ever gravitationally lensed superluminous supernova that can be seen as multiple, clearly separated images.
The distant explosion, named...
Astronomers find an ultra-hot galaxy cluster from the universe’s infancy
Astronomers have discovered something that challenges long-standing ideas about how the universe evolved: a galaxy cluster filled with extremely hot gas that formed far...
Deep Space
Australian Space Agency announced the Lunar Rover naming shortlist today
The Australian Space Agency launched a competition back in September to name the Aussie-made rover which will be sent to the Moon on a...
Astronomers discover massive galaxy ‘shipyard’ in the distant universe
Even galaxies don't like to be alone.
While astronomers have known for a while that galaxies tend to congregate in groups and clusters, the process...
Scientists find a new class of cosmic explosions
Astronomers have found two objects that, added to a strange object discovered in 2018, constitute a new class of cosmic explosions.
The new type of...
Astronomers find ‘vampire’ star sucking life from victim
Astronomers have found a 'vampire' star in the midst of a feeding frenzy, with the help of an automated program that is sifting through...
Did Mars once have a third, larger moon
We are all familiar with our one Moon but other planets have different numbers of moons; Mercury has none, Jupiter has 95 and Mars...