Astronomy

Astronomy

planetary nebula
Everything that gets heated up has to, somehow, radiate that energy away. Here's what we see when that happens in the Universe.
local bubble
For a thousand light-years in all directions, there's a "bubble" that the Sun sits at the center of. Here's the story behind it.
Europa may be difficult to access. But if a recent study is correct, its subsurface ocean would be more accessible than previously thought.
NEO Surveyor
Most potentially hazardous asteroids remain unidentified. NEO surveyor could change that, but only if it's funded, and soon.
humans universe
All life forms, anywhere in our Universe, are chemically connected yet completely unique.
life mars
Was there ever life on Mars? Is there life on Mars now? Did it originate there or here, on Earth? All possibilities are fascinating.
It was supposed to have a 5.5-10 year lifetime, and take 6 months to calibrate. It's performing better than anyone anticipated.
If there are human-sized creatures walking around on other planets, would we be able to view them directly?
alien messages
There are pros and cons to sending interstellar messages to aliens that may or may not exist.
planet 9
Pluto failed to meet the definition of a planet, but some astronomers think there might be a legitimate Planet 9 out there.
The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter recently captured images that could help scientists better under the mysterious physics of our Sun.
Dr. Tyson explains where we might find aliens, why "dark matter" is a misleading term, and why you can blame physics for your favorite team's loss.
quasar-galaxy hybrid
Single objects rarely change the course of an entire scientific field. Distant object GNz7q, a galaxy-quasar hybrid, might do exactly that.
farthest galaxy
We've fooled ourselves before with galaxies that look just like this one. The evidence we have simply isn't strong enough.
In the latest edition of the Starts With A Bang podcast, we talk with soon-to-be Dr. Arianna Long about galaxies, from birth to today.
An optical telescope with a massive 20-foot (6-meter) mirror has an eye-popping price tag of $11 billion.
science god
Many people perceive the struggle to understand our Universe as a battle between science and God. But this is a false dichotomy.
earendel
The Hubble Space Telescope, 32 years after its launch, broke the all-time record for most distant star. It won't do better.
The story of how Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were made isn't a universal one. Some gas giants were built different.
earendel
The light from Earendel took 12.9 billion years to reach Hubble. The star is millions of times brighter than our Sun and 50 times as massive.
mercury diamonds
Due to a crust of carbon, the absence of oxygen, and constant bombardment from meteorites, the planet Mercury may be littered with diamonds.
gravitational waves
To study the origin of the Universe, we could build a constellation of six expensive spacecraft — or we could just use the Moon.
how many planets
For some reason, when we talk about the age of stars, galaxies, and the Universe, we use "years" to measure time. Can we do better?
From life on Earth to the planet itself, there are four ways our planet will actually experience "the end," no matter how we define it.
astrology to astronomy
From the tablets of the Babylonians to the telescopes of modern science, humans have always looked to the skies for fundamental answers.
Galactic archaeology has uncovered a spectacular find: the Milky Way already existed more than 13 billion years ago.
dark energy
To answer any physical question, you must ask the Universe itself. But what happens when the answers aren't around anymore?
every square degree
Even a tiny sliver of the Universe can reveal the cosmic story of what's out there and how it came to be the way it is today.
The closest star system to Earth, just over 4 light-years away, has three stars and at least one Earth-sized planet. Is it time to go there?
round
In 1990, we only knew of the planets in our own Solar System. Today, the exoplanet count is more than 5000. Here's what we've learned.