Astronomy

Astronomy

A newfound gravitational wave ‘hum’ may be from the universe’s biggest black holes

Scientists reported evidence for a new class of gravitational waves, likely created by merging supermassive black holes.

Astronomy

200 years ago, the Milky Way’s central black hole briefly awoke

The black hole is thought to be mostly quiet and dim. Now, glowing cosmic clouds have revealed the behemoth’s last flare.

Physics

Julian Muñoz has a ‘ruler’ that could size up the early universe

The measurement tool could lay out a distance scale for cosmic dawn —and offer clues to the nature of dark matter.

Astronomy

50 years ago, a search for proof that the Maya tracked comets came up short

The mystery of whether the ancient civilization tracked comets endures, but recent evidence hints the Maya tracked related meteor showers.

Astronomy

A star cluster in the Milky Way appears to be as old as the universe

Globular cluster M92 is about 13.8 billion years old, a new calculation suggests. Getting the age right could help resolve a bigger cosmic conundrum.

Astronomy

‘Under Alien Skies’ imagines what the sky looks like on other planets

Astronomer Philip Plait’s new book takes readers on a thrilling ride to Mars, Pluto and even a black hole.

Astronomy

Alien life may be possible even at the Milky Way’s edges

Phosphorus detected far from the Milky Way’s center seems to extend the zone where life could exist in the galaxy by thousands of light-years.

Astronomy

In a first, JWST detected starlight from distant galaxies with quasars

Until JWST’s sharp infrared eyes came along, it wasn’t possible to see the galaxies hosting extremely bright supermassive black holes called quasars.

Astronomy

A supermassive black hole orbiting a bigger one revealed itself with a flash

A supermassive black hole binary system has puzzled astronomers for decades. Now they’ve finally seen direct signals from the smaller of the two.

Astronomy

Jupiter-sized planets are very rare around the least massive stars

A six-year search of 200 nearby low-mass red dwarf stars found no Jupiter-like planets, boosting the standard theory for how such planets form.

Astronomy

The Parker Solar Probe may have spotted the origin of high-speed solar winds

Kinks in the magnetic fields near the surface of the sun appear to be the cause of fast-moving flows in the solar wind.

Astronomy

A simulation of a dying star shows how it could create gravitational waves

Massive jets and an expanding cocoon of debris from a collapsing star could be a source of never-before-seen ripples in spacetime.