Astronomy

Astronomy

Mini-Neptunes may become super-Earths as the exoplanets lose their atmospheres

Starlight is eroding the atmospheres of a handful of gassy exoplanets that are a bit smaller than Neptune, gradually exposing the rocky cores within.

Astronomy

A new James Webb telescope image reveals a galactic collision’s aftermath

Bright and dusty spokes of star formation connect the Cartwheel Galaxy’s inner and outer rings in a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Physics

Two black holes merged despite being born far apart in space

A closer look at gravitational wave data reveals 10 overlooked mergers, including one between black holes that probably found each other late in life.

Astronomy

The heaviest neutron star on record is 2.35 times the mass of the sun

The measurement helps refine the dividing line between neutron stars and black holes.

Astronomy

How James Webb Space Telescope data have already revealed surprises

A distant galaxy cluster’s violent past and the onset of star formation in the more remote universe lie buried in the observatory’s first image.

Astronomy

Clouds in the Milky Way’s plasma bubbles came from the starry disk — and far beyond

Gas clouds in the Fermi bubbles have a wide range of chemical compositions, suggesting some may have been ripped from other galaxies.

Astronomy

A fast radio burst’s rapid, steady beat offers a clue to its cosmic origin

Amped-up neutron stars, pairs of magnetically entangled neutron stars or magnetar quakes could explain a three-second-long train of radio blips.

Astronomy

The most distant rotating galaxy hails from 13.3 billion years ago

Astronomers have spotted a rotating galaxy whose light comes from just 500 million years after the Big Bang.

Astronomy

Here are the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning first pictures

President Biden revealed the NASA telescope's image of ancient galaxies whose light has been traveling 13 billion years to reach us.

Astronomy

Sand clouds are common in atmospheres of brown dwarfs

Dozens of newly examined brown dwarfs have clouds of silicates, confirming an old theory and revealing how these failed stars live.

Quantum Physics

Aliens could send quantum messages to Earth, calculations suggest

Scientists are developing quantum communications networks on Earth. Aliens, if they exist, could be going further.

Astronomy

An otherwise quiet galaxy in the early universe is spewing star stuff

Seen as it was 700 million years after the Big Bang, the galaxy churns out a relatively paltry number of stars. And yet it’s heaving gas into space.