Astronomy
- Astronomy
A super-short gamma-ray burst defies astronomers’ expectations
A faraway eruption of gamma rays that lasted for only a second had a surprising origin: the implosion of a massive star.
- Astronomy
The tiny dot in this image may be the first look at exomoons in the making
New ALMA observations offer some of the strongest evidence yet that planets around other stars have moons.
- Space
How do scientists calculate the age of a star?
There are a few different methods to determine the age of a star, but none are perfect.
- Planetary Science
A century of astronomy revealed Earth’s place in the universe
The past century of astronomy has been a series of revolutions, each one kicking Earth a bit farther to the margins.
- Astronomy
The latest picture of a black hole captures Centaurus A’s massive jets
Data from the Event Horizon Telescope reveal new details of jets spewing from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Centaurus A.
- Space
Souped-up supernovas may produce much of the universe’s heavy elements
An old star that formed from an explosive event called a magnetorotational hypernova is revealing where elements like uranium and silver might be forged.
- Astronomy
A shadowy birthplace may explain Jupiter’s strange chemistry
Dust that blocked sunlight caused the giant planet to form in a deep freeze, a new study suggests.
- Astronomy
Scientists spotted an electron-capture supernova for the first time
A flare that appeared in the sky in 2018 was an electron-capture supernova, a blast that can occur in stars too small to go off the usual way.
- Astronomy
This moon-sized white dwarf is the smallest ever found
A newfound white dwarf is the smallest and perhaps the most massive known, and spins around once every seven minutes.
- Physics
Gravitational waves reveal the first known mergers of a black hole and neutron star
For the first time, LIGO and Virgo have detected long-anticipated gravitational waves from a black hole merging with a neutron star.
- Physics
Dark matter may slow the rotation of the Milky Way’s central bar of stars
A method akin to studying a tree’s rings revealed the history of a slowdown of the rotating bar of stars at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy.
- Astronomy
Any aliens orbiting these 2,000 stars could spot Earth crossing the sun
Alien astronomers in those star systems could discover Earth the way we find exoplanets: by watching for a dip in starlight.
