Astrophysics

An illustration of the four spacecraft that detected a magnetic reconnection.

NASA Finally Caught This Crazy Space Weather in Action

The interactions between the Earth and the Sun’s magnetic fields drive explosive space weather

Astronomers Deploy a Laser System for a Clearer View of the Skies

A new four-laser system at the Paranal Observatory will help the massive telescope compensate for atmospheric turbulence

The remnant of SN 1006

Ancient Arabic Text Shines Light on Massive Supernova

A new look at records from an ancient astronomer yields insights into one of the brighest supernovas ever seen from Earth

A visualization of the Varying Length Model of the cosmic web.

Take in the Beauty of This Gravity Web That Connects Galaxies Across the Universe

A new simulation visualizes how distant galaxies might be connected

Artist's rendering of the Alpha Centauri system

Stephen Hawking and Billionaire Announce Project to Send Tiny Probes to Nearest Star System

Yuri Milner is investing 100 million dollars in research to develop a swarm of tiny probes for a mission to Alpha Centauri

Galaxy NGC 1600

Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Common Than Previously Thought

Astronomers have found a huge black hole in a "cosmic backwater," opening the possiblity there could be many more in the universe

An illustration of galaxy superclusters and cosmic voids, similar to the structure of the BOSS Great Wall

Meet the BOSS, the Largest Structure in the Universe (So Far)

Astronomers recently discovered a wall of galaxies 1 billion light years across, larger than anything else yet identified in the cosmos

This image was taken inside the Large Hadron Collider just a few months before its launch in 2008.

Inside the Atom Smasher at CERN

What you can see on a tour of the largest particle collider in the world

A supercomputer simulation shows the gravitational waves produced as two black holes merge.

After a Century of Searching, We Finally Detected Gravitational Waves

Two merging black holes sent out a signal 1.3 billion years ago that now confirms a key prediction of Einstein's relativity

An illustration of how gravitational waves ripple through the fabric of space-time.

Five Things to Know About Gravitational Waves

The internet is abuzz with rumors of a big announcement—here are a few things you should know to decipher the news

An illustration shows the record-breaking supernova ASASSN-15lh as it would appear from an exoplanet about 10,000 light-years away.

Astronomers Have Found the Brightest Supernova Yet

The powerful blast is so weird that it could be a whole new kind of star explosion

What goes into a black hole never comes out. Or does it?

Stephen Hawking Thinks We Can Solve a Major Black Hole Mystery With Hair

No toupees needed, though. The "hairs" in question are minute changes in spacetime at the fringes of black holes

The LISA Pathfinder probe on display in September, 2015.

A Space-Based Physics Lab Could Help Scientists Study How Gravity Warps Spacetime

The LISA Pathfinder Probe could help reveal the ripples caused by black holes and supernovae

These galaxies are smiling at you thanks to general relativity.

Seven Simple Ways We Know Einstein Was Right (For Now)

For the past 100 years, these experiments have offered continued evidence that general relativity is our best description of gravity

The Theory of Relativity, Then and Now

Albert Einstein's breakthrough from a century ago was out of this world. Now it seems surprisingly down-to-earth

Black Holes Might Catapult Rogue Supernovas Into Space

Like being fired from a slingshot at 4.5 million miles an hour

The observatory atop Mauna Kea

Hawaiians Are Protesting Construction of the World’s Largest Telescope

Native Hawai'ian activists say the volcano-top project is damaging sacred lands

This optical atomic clock uses strontium atoms to tell time.

Send Atomic Clocks to Space to Find Gravitational Waves

A new breed of the hyper-accurate clocks could help scientists detect the elusive ripples in space-time faster and cheaper

Black holes create and destroy galaxies, like this spiral galaxy in the constellation Dorado.

Technology from ‘Interstellar’ Could Be Useful to Scientists, Too

The movie’s visual effects are now being used for scientific research

Ask Smithsonian: How Does a Satellite Stay Up?

Meet a Harvard-Smithsonian researcher who monitors all the satellites and explains why they rarely fall

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