Space

Astronomy

After all this time, the moon still manages to surprise us

Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses 50 years of lunar science.

Astronomy

How the 2019 eclipse will differ from 2017’s — and what that means for science

This year’s total solar eclipse is visible late in the day from a relatively small slice of South America.

Astronomy

The earliest known galaxy merger occurred shortly after the Big Bang

Telescopes show two distant blobs of stars and gas swirling around each other in the young universe.

Planetary Science

With Dragonfly, NASA is heading back to Saturn’s moon Titan

NASA’s next robotic mission to explore the solar system is headed to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

Astronomy

In a first, telescopes tracked a lone fast radio burst to a faraway galaxy

First-time observations suggest that the cause of one-time fast radio bursts is different from what triggers repeatedly flashing radio bursts.

Astronomy

A new algorithm finds nearby stars that could host hidden worlds

An algorithm dubbed “Netflix for exoplanets” identified more than 350 stars that, based on their chemistry, might have planets orbiting out of sight.

Astronomy

The highest-energy photons ever seen hail from the Crab Nebula

An experiment in Tibet spotted photons with over 100 trillion electron volts of energy.

Astronomy

The cosmic ‘Cow’ may be a strange supernova

New observations suggest the strange bright burst called the ‘Cow’ was a supernova, rather than a shredded star.

Tech

How NASA’s portable atomic clock could revolutionize space travel

An atomic clock designed to enable self-driving spaceships and GPS-like navigation on other planets is about to take a yearlong test flight.

Astronomy

Readers boggled by black hole behemoth

Readers had questions about the first image of a black hole and a chytrid fungus.

Astronomy

Table salt may be hiding in Europa’s underground sea

Observations of Europa by the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that the moon’s ice-covered ocean may hold sodium chloride, or common table salt.

Astronomy

Massive superflares have been seen erupting from stars like the sun

Older stars, like the sun, can still send out massive bursts of energy that can be seen from light-years away.