Astronomy

Astronomy

Shedding light on the precursor to a supernova

A supernova lights up its surroundings, revealing evidence of what made the star explode.

Astronomy

Heavenly Chemistry: Astronomers announce astrophysical anion

Astronomers' discovery of a rare negatively charged organic molecule sheds light on conditions in interstellar gas clouds, where amino acids, sugars, and other prebiologic compounds form.

Astronomy

Help Spot Galaxies

Although computer programs can be written to sort galaxies into general categories, they would inevitably throw out the unusual, the weird and the wonderful, astronomers say. Because the human brain is much better at recognizing patterns, astronomers launched a site this week recruiting the public to help identify spiral galaxies on sky photos. Instructions are […]

Astronomy

Shattering Find? Comet fragments show surprising uniformity

Close observations of fragments of a comet indicate that its interior was remarkably similar to its surface, meaning that repeated solar heating didn't much change its outer layers.

Astronomy

Passages

By observing the minieclipses known as transits, when a distant planet passes in front of its parent star, astronomers are learning more about the size, composition, and temperature of exoplanets.

Astronomy

Galactic Émigré: Incoming dwarf galaxy could feed its larger kin

A dwarf galaxy at the periphery of the giant Andromeda galaxy may be a pristine building block for forming galaxies in the modern-day universe.

Astronomy

Crash will determine solar system’s fate

The solar system already lies in the suburbs of the Milky Way, but the sun and its planets will be yanked even farther away about 5 billion years from now.

Astronomy

Big Broadcast

A record-breaking radio burst from the sun last Dec. 6 temporarily overwhelmed scores of GPS receivers, highlighting the hazard of radio storms on Earth.

Astronomy

Stellar Spectacular: Brightest supernova

Astronomers have discovered the brightest stellar explosion ever observed, and it could be the first example of a rare type of supernova involving a freakishly massive star.

Astronomy

Back to (Near) the Beginning: Galactic springtime

In their quest to capture ever-earlier moments of cosmic history, astronomers may have found some of the first galaxies.

Astronomy

Eclipsing a black hole

A chance eclipse has enabled astronomers for the first time to measure the width of a disk of swirling, hot matter around a supermassive black hole.

Astronomy

Late Bloomer: Hubble studies once-dormant galaxy

A wispy dwarf galaxy called Leo A has the potential to change the way astronomers build theoretical models of galaxy evolution.