Milky way

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy with MIRI (its Mid-Infrared Instrument).

See the Sombrero Galaxy Like Never Before, as the James Webb Telescope Captures It in Unprecedented Detail

The mid-infrared light image shows astronomical features that can’t be seen with visible light cameras or in previous infrared views—and in this shot, the galaxy doesn’t look much like a Sombrero anymore

Stephan's Quintet includes four distant galaxies that are connected through gravity and one galaxy that is much closer to us but just happens to lie in the same direction in the sky.

Astronomers Spot a Galaxy Smashing Into Its Neighbors at 800 Times the Speed of a Fighter Jet

The collision in Stephan's Quintet was observed by WEAVE, a new instrument on one of the world's most powerful telescopes, in its first major scientific results

An area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on October 15, 2024, which is zoomed in 36 times compared to the large mosaic.

See the First Section of the Largest-Ever Cosmic Map, Revealed in Stunning Detail by the Euclid Space Telescope

The final 3D atlas of the sky will help scientists study dark matter and dark energy, which make up 96 percent of the universe but remain mysterious

The Milky Way lights up the sky over Cathedral Rock in the Coconino National Forest in Sedona, Arizona.

How to See the Milky Way This Weekend

Late August is a great time to observe the dazzling core of our galaxy, and with the upcoming new moon, viewing conditions should be ideal—as long as you're in a very dark area

The central region of the Omega Centauri globular cluster, where the Hubble Space Telescope found strong evidence for a medium-sized black hole.

Astronomers Spot Rare, Mid-Sized Black Hole in Our Galaxy

The black hole, if confirmed, is in the star cluster Omega Centauri, about 17,700 light-years away, and it could hold lessons about how such structures are formed

Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, the heliosphere of a young star, LL Orionis, collides with an interstellar medium of dust. A similar event with our own sun, researchers say, might have occurred between two and three million years ago.

A Giant Interstellar Cloud May Have Once Enveloped Earth, Potentially Causing Ice Ages

Astronomers suggest this cold, dense cloud compressed our sun's protective field between two and three million years ago, leaving the Earth exposed to cosmic material

In an artist's rendering, a red giant star and white dwarf star circle each other. Material ejected from the red giant gathers and heats in the white dwarf, catalyzing a bright explosion.

A Rare Nova Explosion Will Soon Bring a 'New Star' to the Night Sky—How to Catch a Glimpse

In an event that occurs only once every 80 years, a distant remnant of a star will grow much brighter, briefly becoming visible to Earth

A close-up of the Dragon's Egg Nebula, with two mismatched stars inside.

A Stellar Collision Birthed the 'Dragon's Egg' Nebula, a Puzzling Structure in the Milky Way

The colorful cloud of gas and dust has a violent origin—and this explains the unusual traits of two massive stars within it, astronomers say

An artist's illustration of Gaia BH3 and its companion star's "wobbling" orbit.

Astronomers Discover a 'Sleeping Giant' Black Hole in Our Galaxy—the Second-Closest Known to Earth

Called Gaia BH3, the dormant black hole is 33 times more massive than the sun, making it the largest recorded stellar black hole in the Milky Way

The new image of the Milky Way's black hole, seen in polarized light. It shows the organized magnetic fields that surround the black hole itself, from which no light can escape.

Astronomers Capture Dazzling New Image of the Black Hole at the Milky Way's Center

The first image of the black hole taken in polarized light, the new view shows the supermassive structure's magnetic fields and hints that it could be hiding an enormous jet

The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light. The image shows the expanding material from the blast colliding with gas released by the star before the explosion.

James Webb Telescope Captures Image of Supernova That 'Absolutely Shattered' a Star

The new image gives astronomers a near-infrared look at the stellar explosion called Cassiopeia A, located around 11,000 light years away from Earth

RCW58, a Wolf-Rayet bubble nebula, is made of ejected material from the star WR 40, which shines at the center of the image.

See Ten Dazzling Space Images From the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards

From comets to nebulas to the Milky Way, the shots shortlisted in the annual competition capture the beauty of the cosmos from Earth

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 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 impression of the nearby black hole and the star that hinted to its existence. 

Astronomers Discover Closest Known Black Hole to Earth

Researchers believe there may be even nearer ones that have yet to be detected

The James Webb Space Telescope's latest image: the Orion Nebula

See the Best View Yet of the Orion Nebula

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured young stars and vibrant gas and dust within the popular constellation

NIRCam enhanced closeup of the galaxy GLASS-z13

The James Webb Space Telescope Might Have Spotted the Most Distant Galaxy Ever Seen

Scientists think the light detected by the telescope is from just 300 million years after the Big Bang

The first-ever image of a black hole in the Milky Way

Here’s What the Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way Looks Like

A team of scientists from around the world collaborated to get a visual peek of the supermassive object

A mosaic image of our Milky Way galaxy created over the course of nearly 12 years.

See Astonishing Milky Way Mosaic Image That Took 12 Years to Create

A Finnish astrophotographer created the 1.7 gigapixel image by stitching together photos with a total exposure time of roughly 1,250 hours

This is the all-sky map created by the eROSITA X-ray telescope, represented in false color (red for energies 0.3-0.6 keV, green for 0.6-1.0 keV, blue for 1.0-2.3 keV). The original image was smoothed in order to generate the above picture.

An X-Ray Hourglass Is Emerging From the Middle of the Milky Way

Astronomers spotted the two gargantuan bubbles of charged particles ballooning out from the middle of our home galaxy

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