Astronomy
NASA’s Flying Telescope Spots Oldest Type of Molecule in the Universe
An infrared telescope mounted in a Boeing 747 has detected the first type of molecule to form after the big bang
An Interstellar Meteor May Have Collided With Earth in 2014
Researchers have identified an object that, they theorize, was traveling too fast to have originated within our solar system
Scientists Find a Tiny Speck of Comet Inside a Meteorite
The little fragment found in Antarctica was protected from the elements and preserves the chemical signature of the early solar system
What the Obsolete Art of Mapping the Skies on Glass Plates Can Still Teach Us
The first pictures of the sky were taken on glass photographic plates, and these treasured artifacts can still help scientists make discoveries today
The Largest Unnamed Object in the Solar System Needs a Title—and You Can Help
2007 OR10 needs a snazzier moniker; the public can now choose between ‘Gonggong,’ ‘Holle’ and ‘Vili’
Astronomers Capture First-Ever Image of a Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope reveals the silhouette of a black hole at the center of a galaxy 55 million light-years away
How Margaret Dayhoff Brought Modern Computing to Biology
The pioneer of bioinformatics modeled Earth’s primordial atmosphere with Carl Sagan and made a vast protein database still used today
Exoplanet Core Orbiting a Dying Star May Help Astronomers Understand What Lies in Store for Our Solar System
It's likely the planetesimal orbiting a white dwarf 410 light years away was the core of a minor planet caught in its immense gravity
There's a Dark and Stormy Vortex Brewing on Neptune
It is the sixth massive dark and stormy vortex found on the planet since 1989 and the only one astronomers have watched develop
How Much Does the Milky Way Weigh?
Measurements from the Gaia satellite and Hubble Space Telescope show our galaxy tips the scales at about 1.5 trillion solar masses
Using Landmine Detectors, Meteorite Hunt Turns Up 36 Space Rocks in Antarctica
The scientists had a hunch that more meteorites were hidden a foot below the ice—they were right
Planetary Smash-Up May Have Produced This Distant Iron Exoplanet
Computer simulations suggest Kepler 107c could have been formed when two rocky planets collided, stripping it down to its metal core
Astrophysicist Mercedes Lopez-Morales Is Grooming the Next Generation of Planet Hunters
"The Daily Show" correspondent Roy Wood, Jr. talks with the astrophysicist about adrenaline, fear, curiosity and attracting younger generations to science
We Finally Know How Long a Day on Saturn Is
By studying oscillations in the planet's iconic rings, researchers have determined it takes Saturn 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds to rotate once
Ten Stunning Photos of the Super Blood Wolf Moon Lunar Eclipse
A lunar eclipse was visible across much of the world last night, bathing the moon in a reddish glow
Scientists Predict Sun Will One Day Turn Into Giant Crystal Ball
New observations of white dwarfs confirm theory that the star remnants transition into solid structures as they cool
Planet Hunter TESS Is Already Spotting Hundreds of Crazy New Worlds
The first data from the space telescope's mission tallies more than 200 potential planets, including some just 50 light-years away
Ring in the New Year With Dazzling Total Lunar Eclipse of a Supermoon
The celestial show will be visible on the East Coast around 12:12 a.m. on January 21, 2019
The 17th-Century Astronomer Who Made the First Atlas of the Moon
Johannes Hevelius drew some of the first maps of the moon, praised for their detail, from his homemade rooftop observatory in the Kingdom of Poland
Meet Farout, the Solar System's Most Distant Minor Planet
Observations suggest the object is 300 miles in diameter, pinkish-red and 3.5 times as far away from the sun as Pluto
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