Space & Future
Astronomers find tiny rocky planets locked in eternal day and night
Astronomers have taken their most detailed look yet at the planetary system orbiting Barnard's Star, one of the Sun's closest stellar neighbors, and the...
Moon’s far side keeps a hidden record of how Earth slows the solar wind
For billions of years, the moon has been constantly bombarded by the solar wind—a stream of charged particles flowing outward from the sun.
Scientists have...
Webb Telescope finds hidden giant planet in one of the galaxy’s best-known star systems
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered a giant planet that had been hiding in plain sight within one of the most closely studied...
Scientists are ‘listening’ to black holes to test Einstein’s theory and search for new...
Black holes are famous for swallowing everything that comes too close, including light.
But when two black holes collide and merge, they briefly produce something...
Scientists discover the Sun contains far more silver than previously thought
Scientists have discovered that the sun contains about 55% more silver than previous estimates suggested, solving a long-standing mystery about the element's abundance in...
Nearby Earth-like planet may have a rare atmosphere, giving us new hope
A rocky planet about 40 light-years from Earth may have something that scientists have struggled to find on similar worlds—a lasting atmosphere.
The planet, called...
This exoplanet hid for 10 years before astronomers finally found it
Astronomers have found a new exoplanet in the Beta Pictoris (β Pic) system.
β Pic is about 63 light years away, and is notable for...
Scientists uncover the secret behind Mars’ mysterious metallic-looking sand dunes
A stunning new image from the European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed an ancient crater on Mars filled with dark, wave-like sand dunes that...
Rare Meteorite from New Jersey Contains Clues to the Origins of Life, Scientists Find
A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a home in Hillsborough, New Jersey, has given scientists a rare look at the chemistry of...
Astronomers Uncover A Strange Nearby Planet System Unlike Anything In Our Solar System
Barnard’s Star is one of the most famous stars in the night sky for astronomers because it is so close to Earth.
Located just under...
Astronomers find new features hiding in the Orion Nebula
As one of the most prominent features of the night sky, the Orion Nebula has been studied, probed, and imaged by almost every telescope...
Hidden fifth dimension could finally explain the mystery of dark matter, scientists say
Dark matter, the mysterious substance that holds galaxies together, may be connected to a hidden fifth dimension of space, according to a new theory...
Deep Space
Scientists find traces of one of Universe’s first stars
Astronomers have found the ghostly remains of one of the Universe's first stars inside a rare, ancient star far, far away on the other...
Black holes have no hair, but they do have comb overs
Making a black hole is easy.
Just squeeze a bunch of stuff into a small enough volume. It doesn't even matter what you use.
You can...
Parker Solar Probe helps solve sun’s super-heating mystery
It's one of the greatest and longest-running mysteries surrounding, quite literally, our sun--why is its outer atmosphere hotter than its fiery surface?
University of Michigan...
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...
New space image reveals a cosmic ‘candy cane’
Just in time for the holidays, a structure resembling a candy cane has emerged as the centerpiece of a new, colorful composite image of...