Astrophysics

Researchers estimate more than a trillion planets could exist in the elliptical galaxy at the center of this image.

Astronomers Spot Signs of Planets Outside the Milky Way

Researchers estimate that more than a trillion planets may lurk beyond our galaxy's bounds

Pi^1 Gruis

Astronomers Get Best Look Yet at the Surface of a Red Giant Star

The image shows convection cells on the star are huge, confirming some theories about star evolution

Galaxy SPT0615-JD

Behold Hubble's Best Image of a Distant Galaxy Yet

The galaxy is roughly 13.3 billion light years away, and formed just 500 million years after the universe began

Astronomers Spy a Black Hole's Double 'Burp'

New observations suggest that black holes cycle between activity and rest

The Arecibo telescope, used to detect the Fast Radio Bursts

New Clues to the Origins of the Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts From Space

New analysis suggests that the bursts originate near massive black holes or neutron stars

Artist's illustration of Tabby's Star, also known as KIC 8462852.

Dust, Not an Alien Megastructure, Likely Causes Strange Winks in Tabby’s Star Brightness

After extensive observations, researchers can now confidently say: It's not aliens

In Attempt to Contact Intelligent Life, Group Sends Musical Signal Toward Planet GJ 273b

Though the chances are slim, the team hopes this latest transmission is just the first of many

A 2015 image from the Hubble space telescope, highlighting some of the oldest galaxies in the universe.

Astronomers Spot One of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe

The dusty, star-forming galaxy is 12.8 billion years old

Did a well-known Biblical eclipse really occur? Two physicists set out to investigate.

How Scientists Identified the Oldest Known Solar Eclipse ... Using the Bible

The new research by two physicists adds to astronomical knowledge—and overturns previous Biblical interpretations

Our Nearest Neighbor Might Harbor Its Own Solar System

New data from Proxima Centauri shows it has a ring of cold dust—a sign that many planets may orbit the distant star

An artist's impression shows two tiny but very dense neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode as a kilonova.

What the Neutron Star Collision Means for Dark Matter

The latest LIGO observations rekindle a fiery debate over how gravity works: Does the universe include dark matter, or doesn’t it?

Stephen Hawking with Isaac Newton's annotated copy of Principia Mathematica

Stephen Hawking's PhD Thesis Goes Online, Crashing Internet Servers

After less than a day on the internet, it racked up 60,000 downloads

An illustration of two neutron stars merging, ejecting gamma ray streams and clouds of matter that produce heavy elements and light

Scientists Spot the Spark From Ancient Collision of Neutron Stars

The chirp and flash from the event offers clues to the origin of Earth's precious metals

Artist's depiction of a pulsar.

World's Largest Radio Telescope Spies Its First Pulsars

Still in its trial run, the China's FAST radio telescope has already identified two new pulsars and perhaps a dozen more

The remnant's of Kepler's supernova imaged with modern instruments.

How a 1604 Supernova Presented a Challenge to Astronomers

The supernova provided proof to Galileo, Kepler and others that the heavens were not fixed–although they were wrong about what caused the bright star

A triple solar flare recorded in April, 2017

Could a Magnetic Shield Protect Earth From Space Weather?

A bad geomagnetic storm would fry the electric grid and cripple civilization for years—a space shield is cheap by comparison

Three Scientists Behind the Detection of Gravitational Waves Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics

The trio is the leading force behind the massive pair of detectors that can measures ripples in the fabric of space-time smaller than the width of a proton

An artist's impression of ripples in the fabric of space-time formed from the collision of two black holes.

Scientists Detect Fourth Gravitational Wave, Homing in on an Ancient Black Hole Collision

By triangulating measurements, scientists could soon detect these once elusive energy bursts on a weekly basis with greater precision than ever before

This 1846 map of the solar system includes Vulcan as the planet closest to the sun.

Why Everyone Went on a Wild Goose Chase Looking for the Planet Vulcan

The idea of a ninth planet in the Solar System would resolve a mathematical conundrum about Mercury–only problem is, it wasn't there

Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia

Astronomers Detect 15 Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts From a Distant Galaxy

The new cosmic blasts may help researchers finally figure out what's producing the energy in space

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