Astronomy

Astronomy

cosmic inflation
Today, our observable Universe extends for 46 billion light-years in all directions. But early on in our history, things were much smaller.
young exoplanetary system PDS 70
The giant impact theory suggests our Moon was formed from proto-Earth getting a Mars-sized strike. An exoplanet system shows it's plausible.
breakthrough starshot
A Harvard astronomer went to the bottom of the ocean, claiming he recovered alien technology. But what does the science actually indicate?
an image of a nebula with TRAPPIST stars in it.
The space telescope's findings challenge the notion of a galaxy brimming with life.
flight through universe CEERS JWST NASA
From the present day all the way to less than 400 million years after the Big Bang, we're seeing how the Universe grew up like never before.
a large white dome in the middle of a city.
Get ready for the most peculiar road trip that will help you understand the vastness and emptiness of the solar system — and Sweden.
Black hole jet shadow M87
Some 55 million light-years away lies the giant galaxy Messier 87. Its supermassive black hole, inside and out, looks better than ever.
use lasers keep track of moon nasa
For thousands of years, we puzzled at how far away the Moon was. Today we know its distance, at any time, to within millimeters.
Saturn and Saturn's rings JWST
While Saturn and its moons all appear faint and cloudy to JWST, Saturn's rings are the star of the show. Here's the big scientific reason.
overview effect
There's an entire Universe out there. So, with all that space, all those planets, and all those chances at life, why do we all live here?
an artist's rendering of a black hole in the sky.
In a distant galaxy, a cosmic dance between two supermassive black holes emits periodic flashes of light.
blue marble not 24 hours apollo 17
As the Earth spins and wobbles on its axis and revolves elliptically around the Sun, each day changes from the last. "24 hours" isn't right.
JWST deep field vs hubble
The farther away they get, the smaller distant galaxies look. But only up to a point, and beyond that, they appear larger again. Here’s how.
a man in a lab coat looking at a machine.
The familiar terrain of solids, liquids, and gases gives way to the exotic realms of plasmas and degenerate matter.
zelda depths reionization
What do the dark recesses of the early Universe and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have in common? More than you could have ever hoped for.
Hubble view of galaxy containing GRB 221009A BOAT
The brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed, GRB 221009A behaved in unexpected ways that might help us understand how they occur.
globular cluster terzan 5
Sun-like stars live for around 10 billion years, but our Universe is only 13.8 billion years old. So what's the maximum lifetime for a star?
NGC 1277 red and dead
With hundreds of billions of stars burning bright, some galaxies are already dead. Their inhabitants might not know it, but we're certain.
an image of a black hole in the sky.
There are 40 billion billion black holes in the universe. Here’s how our Solar System stacks up against ten of them.
a picture of a mountain with a blue circle in the middle.
Exoplanet LP 791-18d is likely to have an atmosphere and liquid water.
Artist’s impression of a gamma-ray burst
Gamma-ray bursts are so powerful they could vaporize the Earth from 200 light-years away. Recreating them in the lab is not easy.
JADES deep image
Hubble showed us what our modern day Universe looks like. JWST's big goal was to teach us how the Universe grew up. Here's where we are now.
Loneliest galaxy MCG+01–02–015
With no other galaxies in its vicinity for ~100 million light-years in all directions, it's as isolated and lonely as a galaxy can be.
Fomalhaut debris system ALMA Keck JWST
A surprising JWST discovery around Fomalhaut has a different, superior explanation: not a great dust cloud, but a mere background object.
epsilon eridani comet storm
Massive objects like black holes, stars, and rogue planets routinely pass near our Solar System. An ensuing comet storm could destroy us.
sun photographed from space
Some say that the Sun is a green-yellow color, but our human eyes see it as white, or yellow-to-red during sunset. What color is it really?
a bright star surrounded by stars in the sky.
Archaeologists can learn how societies lived by studying what they left behind when they died. Astronomers are doing much the same thing.
Betelgeuse visualization
A new, unexpected brightening, just 3 years after a massive dimming event, has astronomers watching Betelgeuse. Is a supernova imminent?
stellar remnants black holes planet
The odds are slim, but the consequences would be literally world-ending. There really is a chance of a black hole devouring the Earth.