Astrophysics

An artist's rendition of a LISA spacecraft.

This 'Game-Changer' Detector Will Hunt for Giant Ripples in Spacetime

Set to launch in 2035, the European Space Agency's LISA mission will listen for gravitational waves created by colliding black holes and neutron stars—and some might date nearly to the Big Bang

An image of an odd radio circle called ORC 1. ORCs can be much wider across than the Milky Way galaxy and are large enough to surround entire galaxies.

Giant, 'Odd' Circles of Radio Waves in Space May Finally Have an Explanation

The mystifying orbs could be caused by galactic winds, propelled by a period of rapid star formation and death

A picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope that contains GN-z11, the galaxy with the newly discovered black hole at its center. When GN-z11 was first imaged, it was the farthest galaxy ever seen in the universe.

Astronomers Discover the Oldest Known Black Hole, Breaking a Record Set Last Year

The supermassive structure dates to about 400 million years after the Big Bang, and it’s particularly large for its age

An artist's impression of the planet orbiting its star with the trail of gas behind it. The planet, called WASP-69b, completes one orbit in less than four days.

This Distant Exoplanet Has a 350,000-Mile-Long Tail, Like a Comet

A stream of particles flung from the planet's star is causing its atmosphere to boil away and lose 200,000 tons of mass per second

For the inner four planets in this solar system, each planet orbits the sun three times for every two orbits of the planet immediately to its outside. For the fourth, fifth and sixth planets, they orbit four times for every three orbits of its outer neighbor.

Astronomers Discover Rare Solar System Where Planets Orbit in Mathematical Harmony

The "resonant" planets could provide insight about how such systems form and evolve—and why our own solar system is not synced up

An artist's rendition of the detection of the cosmic ray by the Telescope Array experiment. When high-energy cosmic rays reach Earth's atmosphere, they collide with and break apart atomic nuclei, creating a shower of particles that is picked up by detectors on the ground.

Scientists Mystified by Rare, High-Energy Cosmic Ray, the Most Powerful Since 1991

Researchers have been unable to locate an obvious source for the particle—it seems to have traveled from an empty spot in space

The galaxy cluster Abell 2744, which lies in front of the galaxy containing the newly discovered black hole

Astronomers Spot the Oldest Black Hole Ever Seen, Shedding Light on the Early Universe

Dating to just 470 million years after the Big Bang, the ancient cosmic structure could help researchers understand how the first black holes formed

The James Webb Space Telescope captured this long-wavelength color composite image of the Orion Nebula using its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument.

Mysterious Planet-Like Objects in the Orion Nebula Are Baffling Astronomers

The James Webb Space Telescope has observed dozens of Jupiter-mass, often paired objects, nicknamed JuMBOs, raising questions about how they formed

Onlookers watch as a rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 spacecraft launches. The mission will study the sun's outer layers and the influence of solar activity on the solar system.

India Launches Mission to Study the Sun and Space Weather

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will examine the star's outer layers and aim to shed light on its violent—and potentially damaging—storms

Neptune, captured by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. A new study finds a link between the planet's cloud coverage and solar activity.

Neptune's Clouds Have Disappeared, and the Sun Might Be Responsible

Scientists have linked shifts in the distant planet's cloud coverage to the ever-oscillating solar cycle, which is due to peak soon

An image of the Ring Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The interior of the ring is filled with hot gas and the ring itself is a complex structure made up of thousands of dense clumps of hydrogen gas.

James Webb Telescope Captures the Glowing Ring Nebula in Magnificent Detail

The colorful ring, located some 2,600 light-years away from Earth, is made from the remnants of a dying star

A test image taken by Euclid's infrared light instrument showing distant stars and galaxies.

See the First Stunning Test Images From the Euclid Space Telescope

Meant to study the “dark universe,” Europe's space observatory will eventually peer ten billion years into the past and map more than one-third of the sky

Holland America Line is hosting two solar eclipse cruises, including on aboard the MS Koningsdam.

You Can Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse From Aboard These Cruise Ships

Several cruise lines are offering special sailings for the rare celestial spectacle on April 8, 2024

An artist's rendition of the highly reflective exoplanet LTT 9779 b orbiting its host star.

This Mirror-Like Exoplanet Is the Most Reflective Ever Discovered

The ultra-hot world is wreathed in metallic clouds that prevent the planet from evaporating and keep its atmosphere intact

Data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera were used to make this extremely detailed image of the Southern Ring Nebula.

Seven Amazing Accomplishments the James Webb Telescope Achieved in Its First Year

The observatory has yielded jaw-dropping shots—and surprising facts—about our universe

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory first detected evidence of neutrinos originating from outside the Milky Way a decade ago.

Scientists Find Ghostly Neutrino Particles From the Milky Way

It's no surprise that neutrinos come from within our galaxy, but the tiny, chargeless particles are very hard to detect

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, one of the radio telescopes used to detect the pulses from pulsars in the new research. The telescope started to fall apart in 2020 and was decommisioned.

Gravitational Waves Create a Constant 'Hum' Across the Universe

Breakthrough research suggests the continuous ripples in spacetime could be caused by pairs of supermassive black holes, spiraling toward collisions

The new image of the black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy.

See the Sharp New Image of a Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers used machine-learning technology to improve a 2019 visualization of the M87 black hole, located some 54 million light-years away from Earth

The supernova Cassiopeia A, as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)

See the James Webb Telescope's Stunning New Snapshot of an Exploded Star

The supernova, known as Cassiopeia A, is located roughly 11,000 light-years from Earth and could offer insights into cosmic dust and star death

An artist's rendition of the runaway black hole with the stream of stars trailing behind it. Its former host galaxy is in the upper right of the image.

Black Hole Hurtling Through Space Leaves a Trail of Stars in Its Wake

Researchers theorize a stream of stars 200,000 light-years long came from a black hole ejected from its galaxy

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