Space & Future
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...
Stars and planets are linked together, and dust is the key to understanding how
Stars and planets are inextricably linked. They form together and stars shape the fate of planets. Stars create the dusty protoplanetary disks that give...
Deep Space
Rocks at asteroid impact site record first day of dinosaur extinction
When the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs slammed into the planet, the impact set wildfires, triggered tsunamis and blasted so much sulfur into...
New moon rocks brought back by Chang’e-5 are 1.97 billion years old
A lunar probe launched by the Chinese space agency recently brought back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in...
Meteorites lend clues to solar system’s origin
The isotopic composition of meteorites and terrestrial planets holds important clues about the earliest history of the solar system and the processes of planet...
Scientists find unique ammonia signatures in atmosphere of cold brown dwarf
Have you ever wondered how astronomers figure out what's happening on planets light-years away from us?
It's a bit like being a detective, but instead...
A star passed through the Oort cloud less than 500,000 years ago. It wasn’t...
As stars in the Milky Way move through space, some of them have an unexpected effect on the Solar System.
Over time, one comes closer...