Space & Future
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...
Astronomers discover a surprisingly mature spiral galaxy from the early universe
Astronomers have discovered a beautiful, well-formed spiral galaxy from a time when the universe was still very young—only 1.5 billion years after the Big...
Astronomers discover giant spinning thread of galaxies 140 million light-years away
Astronomers have discovered one of the largest rotating structures ever seen in the universe: a razor-thin line of galaxies inside a massive, spinning cosmic...
Scientists capture the first high-detail “real-time” images of stars exploding
Astronomers have captured the most detailed close-up images ever taken of stars exploding, known as novae.
These pictures were taken within days of the eruptions...
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...
Deep Space
Lunar dust is bad. But not as bad as living in the city
As NASA prepares for a return to the Moon through the Artemis program, one of the biggest health concerns for astronauts has been lunar...
What, exactly, is space-time?
Few ideas in modern science have reshaped our understanding of reality more profoundly than space-time—the interwoven fabric of space and time at the heart...
Lonely giant planets may build their own mini solar systems
A new study from the University of St Andrews has found that giant, starless planets drifting alone through space may be able to form...
Jupiter’s moon Europa may have had a slow evolution, shows study
Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered if there's life beyond Earth? Scientists have been asking that same question for a...
Researchers find new way to search for life on exoplanets
A Cornell senior has come up with a way to discern life on exoplanets loitering in other cosmic neighborhoods: a spectral field guide.
Zifan Lin...