Astronomy
- Astronomy
Are most extrasolar planets hefty imposters?
A new study makes the startling claim that nearly half the objects reported to be extrasolar planets are something much more massive and mundane—either lightweight stars or stellar wannabes known as brown dwarfs.
- Astronomy
Rare Passage: Crab’s X rays probe Titan
Observing a rare celestial alignment, astronomers have made the first X-ray measurement of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
- Astronomy
Sizing up a black hole
Astronomers are closing in on the size of the supermassive black hole that lies at our galaxy's center.
- Astronomy
Shades of Venus
On June 8, for the first time in 122 years, the silhouette of Venus will move across the face of the sun.
- Astronomy
Foraging among the Galaxies: Andromeda’s dining habits are documented
A new survey is adding to the evidence that Andromeda, the Milky Way’s sister galaxy, has not only grown bigger in the past by feasting on smaller galaxies but is continuing to do so.
- Astronomy
Andromeda’s building blocks
A radio telescope has made the first conclusive observations of gas clouds that could be the leftover building blocks of the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way’s closest large spiral neighbor.
- Astronomy
Planetoid on the Fringe: Solar system record breaker
Lurking more than 13 billion kilometers from Earth in the coldest, remotest part of the solar system, a newly discovered body is the most distant object ever found to orbit the sun and the largest denizen of the solar system discovered since Pluto.
- Astronomy
Nudging asteroid fragments toward Earth
New computer simulations detail how fragments of asteroids travel to Earth and rain down as meteorites.
- Astronomy
Invisible Universe
X-ray astronomy opens a new window on the most energetic cosmic events.
- Astronomy
Deepest Vision Yet: Hubble takes ultralong look at the cosmos
Astronomers unveiled the deepest visible-light portrait of the universe ever taken, a million-second-long exposure by the Hubble Space Telescope that includes near-infrared images of what appear to be the most-distant galaxies known.
- Astronomy
Pulsar pas de deux
Astronomers have for the first time discovered two pulsars orbiting each other, offering the chance for new precision tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
- Astronomy
Wrenching Findings: Homing in on dark energy
In an analysis of a group of distant supernovas, astronomers have found hints that dark energy is distributed uniformly throughout space.
