Space

Astronomy

X-raying a galactic jet set

The deepest X-ray portrait ever taken of the galaxy Centaurus A highlights its jets and activity around its supermassive black hole.

Astronomy

Second Time Around: Some old stars may make new planets

Two old stars appear to have been rejuvenated and may be undergoing a new wave of planet formation hundreds of millions to billions of years after young stars normally do.

Astronomy

Heavy Find: Weighty neutron stars may rule out exotic core

Neutron stars may be the weirdest stars in the universe, but they don't seem to be very strange, a weighty new report finds.

Astronomy

Twinkle, Twinkle: Dark matter may have lit up first stars

The earliest stars in the universe might have been fueled by dark matter instead of nuclear fusion.

Astronomy

Black Hole Bully: Galaxy blasts its smaller neighbor

A distant galaxy is shooting a deadly jet of radiation at a neighboring galaxy, astronomers have observed.

Astronomy

Run of the Mill: Finding galactic building blocks in early universe

Astronomers have discovered 27 faint, run-of-the-mill galaxies from the early universe that may be some of the building blocks of giant galaxies such as the Milky Way.

Astronomy

Stellar Opposites: Sky survey reveals new halo of stars

The Milky Way galaxy possesses a distinct outer halo that orbits in the opposite direction from its inner halo and the rest of the galaxy.

Planetary Science

A sunlike star’s early development

A new infrared portrait of an embryonic sunlike star reveals an early, crucial step in the process of planet formation.

Planetary Science

Sister Planet: Mission to Venus reveals watery past

The Venus Express probe has found evidence that Venus once had more water than it does today, and has provided new measurements of the weather on Venus, proof of lightning on the planet, and signs of a formerly unknown hot spot near its south pole.

Astronomy

One star, five planets

With the discovery of a fifth planet circling the nearby star 55 Cancri, astronomers have found the most abundant—and heaviest—planetary system beyond the sun's.

Astronomy

Flare-Up: Comet Holmes’ surprise bloom

Comet 17P/Holmes abruptly brightened last month, blossoming into a naked eye object.

Astronomy

Ray Tracing: Energetic cosmic rays linked to giant black holes

New observations suggest that ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays originate in the cores of nearby galaxies harboring supermassive black holes.