Astronomy

Astronomy

New telescopes will search for signs of life on distant planets

Researchers are coming up with creative ways to pick up biosignatures in far-away planetary atmospheres.

Astronomy

Kepler telescope readies for new mission after communications scare

The Kepler space telescope has recovered from going into emergency mode and is now ready for its next planet-hunting mission.

Astronomy

Key sugar needed for life could have formed in space

Sugar that forms backbone of cell machinery can form on icy grains blasted by ultraviolet light from young stars.

Astronomy

Possible source of high-energy neutrino reported

Scientists may have found the cosmic birthplace of an ultra-high energy neutrino: a blazar 9 billion light years away.

Astronomy

There’s far more to the galaxy than meets the eye

A new map of the galaxy as seen in submillimeter light reveals intricate details from nearby nebulas to the far-flung galactic center.

Physics

Faint gravitational waves could soon be on LIGO’s radar

In a few years, LIGO could detect hints of faint gravitational waves from black holes too far away to be seen directly.

Astronomy

Odd white dwarf found with mostly oxygen atmosphere

A white dwarf that has been stripped of its hydrogen and helium provides a rare peek inside the core of a dead massive star.

Astronomy

This eclipse goes on and on

The longest known stellar eclipse hides a nearby star for nearly 3.5 years behind a thick clump of orbiting dust once every 69 years.

Astronomy

Earth’s hurricanes have nothing on this quasar

In a remote galaxy, a cosmic hurricane around a supermassive black hole is driving winds at nearly 20 percent of the speed of light.

Astronomy

Japan’s new X-ray space telescope has gone silent

Japan’s newest orbiting X-ray telescope, ASTRO-H, has gone silent and might have broken into several pieces, the Japanese space agency reports.

Astronomy

Companion star could have triggered supernova

An exploding star in another galaxy might have been pushed over the edge by a stellar companion.

Astronomy

The moon’s poles have no fixed address

Ancient deposits of lunar water ice mark where the moon’s poles used to be.