Astronomy

Astronomy

Nearby quasar may be home to dynamic duo

A pair of black holes left over from a galaxy collision might live in the nearest quasar to Earth.

Astronomy

Eight more galaxies found orbiting the Milky Way

The dozens of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way make excellent laboratories for studying dark matter.

Astronomy

Eight more galaxies found orbiting the Milky Way

The dozens of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way make excellent laboratories for studying dark matter.

Astronomy

Choose Ninja, Cervantes or Rosalind as names for exoplanets

Names for 20 exoplanets are in the hands of a discerning online audience.

Planetary Science

Comet 67P, Rosetta spacecraft cozy up to the sun

Comet 67P is shooting off brilliant jets of gas and dust as it swings in close to the sun, giving scientists clues to the space rocks chemical composition.

Astronomy

Lucy’s new neighbor, downloading New Horizon’s data and more reader feedback

Readers discuss why Pluto's data will take so long to get to Earth, the role the cerebellum plays in creative thinking and more.

Astronomy

24-eyed telescope takes full-sky movies every night

The Evryscope, a 24-telescope array in northern Chile, will nearly continuously watch for changes in the southern sky.

Astronomy

Young black holes evade detection

Supermassive black holes should be growing in the first billion or so years after the Big Bang, but astronomers can’t find them.

Astronomy

Faint red stars can build water worlds drip by drip

Rocky planets around faint red stars have a hard time getting water, but they’re still probably the most common habitable locales in the Milky Way, new computer simulations suggest.

Astronomy

Cosmic threads may hide some of universe’s missing matter

Half the normal matter in the universe might be hiding in cosmic threads strung between clusters of galaxies.

Astronomy

Distant star has northern lights–like display

A dim star shows signs of auroral lights, the first detected on a body that’s not a planet or moon.

Space

Best cosmic ‘cradles of life’ may be elliptical in shape

Giant elliptical galaxies might harbor up to 10,000 times as many Earthlike planets than galaxies like the Milky Way.