Astronomy

Astronomy

A cluttered workspace with electronic components and a hand holding a card splattered with red liquid.
Forensics has reached the final frontier, and could be used to solve future space accidents—or crimes.
Annotated map of the milky way's center in multiple wavelengths with identified regions and sources.
The center of the galaxy doesn't just host stars and a black hole, but an enormous set of rich gassy and dusty features. Find out more!
Pressed and dried ginkgo biloba leaf with visible veins and a tear.
Well-preserved ancient plants and other finds at the Clarkia fossil beds hint at what kind of evidence any Martian life may have left behind.
A bright star illuminates the surrounding space with a spectrum of colors in a nebula.
From before the Big Bang to Voyager 1, particle physicist Harry Cliff takes us on a whiz-bang tour of the Universe's evolution.
A digital image of a star's structure superimposed on a futuristic tunnel with neon arrow accents.
In the infant Universe, particle physics reigned supreme.
Colorful interstellar gas and dust form towering pillars in a star-forming region of space.
A deep dive into the chaotic journey of star formation.
A telescope dedicated to astronomy pointing towards a starry sky at night, with beams of light overcoming the atmosphere to create a visual path.
Lasers, mirrors, and computational advances can all work together to push ground-based astronomy past the limits of our atmosphere.
Even if you aren't in the path of totality, you can still use the solar eclipse to measure how long it takes the Moon to orbit Earth.
Solar total eclipse revealing the sun's pink chromosphere and prominences.
There are only a precious few minutes of totality during even the best solar eclipses. Don't waste yours making these avoidable mistakes.
A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.
In logic, 'reductio ad absurdum' shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.
Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing
NASA's only flagship X-ray telescope ever, Chandra, still works and has no planned successor. So why does the President want to kill it?
Phases of a partial lunar eclipse progression against a dark sky during the penumbral eclipse.
The least exciting of all eclipses, a penumbral lunar eclipse, foreshadows the spectacular show that April 8th's total eclipse will bring.
black hole hit Earth
No matter how you define the end, including the demise of humanity, all life, or even the planet itself, our ultimate destruction awaits.
A close up of a fork, endorsed by a Harvard astronomer.
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb claimed to track down and find alien spherules on the ocean bottom. Here's the sober truth.
An image of a dead galaxy with a square in the middle taken by JWST.
Given enough time, all galaxies will expel their star-forming material and wind up dead. Is this the earliest one, or is it just asleep?
A group of stars and galaxies in space.
Galaxies don't simply feed their central supermassive black holes, but the activity generated inside affects the entire galaxy and more.
An image of the future of US astronomy with a large telescope inside a building.
Ground-based facilities enable the greatest scientific production in all of astronomy. The NSF needs to be ambitious, and it's now or never.
Man in a suit posing with a vintage BBC Big Bang 75 microphone.
To Fred Hoyle, the Big Bang was nothing more than a creationist myth. 75 years later, it's cemented as the beginning of our Universe.
A star is being stretched and pulled apart by the gravity of a black hole in the middle of a field of stars.
7mins
Is information intrinsic in our universe? NASA’s Michelle Thaller explains.
Fractal pattern with a stark contrast of vibrant orange and deep blue hues, designed to make the universe visible.
JWST has puzzled astronomers by revealing large, bright, massive early galaxies. But the littlest ones pack the greatest cosmic punch.
An image of a starry sky with numerous lines, depicting the concept of space pollution.
In 1957, humanity launched our first satellite; today's number is nearly 10,000, with 500,000+ more planned. Space is no longer pristine.
A diagram illustrating the earth's orbit around the sun with positions indicating seasonal change, including facts about leap day.
Leap day only comes once every four years, including in 2024. But the reason we have it, including when we do and don't, may surprise you.
An artist's impression of an asteroid in space.
The detection of two celestial interlopers careening through our solar system has scientists eagerly anticipating more.
Illustration of the solar system's planets and their predicted fates, with some being swallowed by the sun as it dies and others stripped of their atmospheres or ejected.
For now, our Solar System's eight planets are all safe, and relatively stable. Billions of years from now, everything will be different.
A small piece of rock from Germany on a white surface.
Meanwhile meteorite hunters rushed to Berlin to find this most rare space rock.
An image of a fireball emerging from a dark background.
Until the Apollo missions, we had no idea how the moon got here, just a series of educated guesses. They rewrote the story of the moon’s origins.
Planets in varying sizes orbiting around a bright central star in a purple-hued cosmos, where life persists.
There are plenty of life-friendly stellar systems in the Universe today. But at some point in the far future, life's final extinction will occur.
nasa merge black hole
So far, gravitational waves have revealed stellar mass black holes and neutron stars, plus a cosmic background. So much more is coming.
Comparison of early Mars with abundant water and a thicker atmosphere versus the dry and arid Mars of today, much like Venus, which also died in terms of its potential to support life.
In the early stages of our Solar System, there were three life-friendly planets: Venus, Earth, and Mars. Only Earth thrived. Here's why.
gaia ESA milky way
For thousands of years, humanity had no idea how far away the stars were. In the 1600s, Newton, Huygens, and Hooke all claimed to get there.