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Astronomy
On June 20, 2024, the summer solstice occurs at its earliest moment since 1796: when George Washington was President of the USA. Here's why.
There are two different ways to measure the expansion rate of the Universe, and they don't agree. And no, new measurements don't help.
A new all-time record! JWST's discovery of JADES-GS-z14-0 pushes the earliest galaxy ever seen to just 290 million years after the Big Bang.
The Universe is precisely dated at 13.8 billion years old, but astronomers claim the Methuselah star is 14.5 billion years old. What gives?
Ancient currents seemed to move in concert with a 2.4 million-year dance between the Red Planet and Earth.
Some think the reason fundamental scientific revolutions are so rare is because of groupthink. It's not; it's hard to mess with success.
Scientists are searching for dark matter particles that are trillions or even quadrillion times lighter than the more traditional searches.
In ~7 billion years, our Sun will run out of fuel and die. So will every star, eventually. Here are the different fates they'll encounter.
In 2023, data from the James Webb Space Telescope soured hopes that TRAPPIST-1 c had an atmosphere. That disappointment might have been premature.
The number of planets that could support life may be far greater than previously thought, a recent discovery suggests.
We normally think of dark matter as the "glue" that holds galaxies and larger structures together. But it's so much more than that.
There are many theories of gravity out there, and many interpretations of wide binary star data. What have we really learned from it all?
IceCube scientists have detected high-energy tau neutrinos from deep space, suggesting that neutrino transformations occur not only in lab experiments but also over cosmic distances.
In 2017, we detected gold being forged in a neutron star-neutron star merger. Now, in 2024, the amounts created simply don't add up.
The most iconic "dark nebula" of all lights up under JWST's infrared gaze. Here's what's newly discovered inside.
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Humanity has two giant collisions to thank for its existence, explains biologist Sean B. Carroll.
An interview with Lisa Kaltenegger, the founding director of the Carl Sagan Institute, about the modern quest to answer an age-old question: "Are we alone in the cosmos?"
This first-of-its-kind image offers a detailed look at the magnetic fields within the Central Molecular Zone.
Dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries in all the Universe. Is there any way to avoid "having to live with it?"
"I hope we take a mindset where we are willing to look for weird life in weird places."
The JWST's observations of well-developed galaxies early in universal history may coincide with accepted astronomical theory after all.
The most common element in the Universe, vital for forming new stars, is hydrogen. But there's a finite amount of it; what if we run out?
Total eclipses are a product of a strange and almost eerie cosmic coincidence — one that makes Earth an even rarer world in the galaxy and, by proxy, in the Universe.
Our Universe requires dark matter in order to make sense of things, astrophysically. Could massive photons do the trick?
Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?
If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at higher energies, something even grander happens?
Explore how the study of exoplanets is transforming our understanding of ocean formation.
Here's what recent DESI measurements suggest — and why it's too early to update conventional predictions about the Universe's distant future.
Yes, the Universe is expanding, but if you've ever wondered, "How fast is it expanding," the answer isn't in terms of a speed at all.
There are so many problems, all across planet Earth, that harm and threaten humanity. Why invest in researching the Universe?