Astronomy

  1. Archaeology

    Babylonians used geometry to track Jupiter’s movements

    Babylonians took a geometric leap to track Jupiter’s movements long before European astronomers did.

    By
  2. Cosmology

    ‘The Cosmic Web’ weaves tale of universe’s architecture

    A new book chronicles the quest over the last century to understand how the universe is pieced together and how it came to be this way.

    By
  3. Astronomy

    Middleweight black hole suspected near Milky Way’s center

    A gas cloud in the center of the galaxy might be temporarily hosting the second most massive black hole known in the Milky Way.

    By
  4. Astronomy

    The votes are in: Exoplanets get new names

    Arion, Galileo and Poltergeist are just three winners of a contest to name planets and suns in 20 solar systems.

    By
  5. Astronomy

    Exploding star is the brightest supernova ever seen

    The brightest known supernova put out more energy than 500 billion suns.

    By
  6. Astronomy

    As first run of gravitational wave search winds down, rumors abound

    Advanced LIGO has completed its first search for gravitational waves. Researchers are crunching the data as rumors swirl of a detection.

    By
  7. Astronomy

    Readers ponder mysterious origins of oxygen on comets and Earth

    Readers pondered the origins of oxygen within a comet and during Earth's history.

    By
  8. Astronomy

    Clues left at a galactic hit-and-run

    Scientists may have discovered a dwarf galaxy that triggered a “galaxy quake” when it buzzed by the Milky Way a few hundred million years ago.

    By
  9. Astronomy

    Red giants map how the Milky Way grew

    A new catalog of the ages of our galaxy’s stars confirms that the Milky Way grew from the inside out.

    By
  10. Astronomy

    Newfound gas cloud may be graveyard of first stars

    A 12-billion-year-old gas cloud, rich in hydrogen and helium but nothing else, may house the remains of the universe’s first stars.

    By
  11. Astronomy

    To search for an advanced civilization, take a U-turn to star clusters

    Globular star clusters might be safe, stable homes for long-lived advanced civilizations.

    By
  12. Astronomy

    This black hole is an extreme recycler

    A cosmic pump powered by a supermassive black hole is recycling gas through a galaxy.

    By