Astrophysics

One small chunk of one small slice of one portion of the absolutely massive photo of the Milky Way captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope.

This 6 GB Photo of the Milky Way Is As Stunning As It Is Massive

Over the past 10 years the Spitzer Space Telescope captured this gorgeous infrared panorama of the Milky Way

The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is at the center of the Milky Way.

We’re About to Watch As a Supermassive Black Hole Tries to Gobble a Gas Cloud

A huge cloud of dust is on a collision course with the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way

An artist's rendering of the Big Bang.

A New Cosmic Discovery Could Be The Closest We’ve Come to the Beginning of Time

Scientists detect the signature of gravitational waves generated in the first moments of the Big Bang

The planet Kepler-22b, shown in this artwork, is the right size and distance from its star to support liquid water, and perhaps life.

The Search for Life Across the Universe

Smithsonian astrophysicist Jeremy Drake explains how the question changed from "if" life will be found elsewhere to "when" and "where"

Dr. Woosuk Bang, a Ph.D. candidate at the time of this photograph, prepares his doctoral thesis experiment on the Texas Petawatt laser. Earlier experiments with terawatt class lasers proved that clusters of gaseous molecules could be converted into ion energy. Dr. Bang's experiment, among the first to be conducted with the Texas Petawatt, created an ion plasma of sufficient temperature and density to catalyze neutron fusion reactions.

Adventures In Laser Science

A photo series by Austin-based photographer Robert Shults casts physicists and their everyday life in the lab in a sci-fi B-movie light

SM0313 is the little star right in the center.

This is the Oldest Star We’ve Ever Seen

SM0313 was part of the second wave of star formation

The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way.

Stephen Hawking Thinks Black Holes Don’t Exist

And he's been trying to tell the rest of us for a decade

Can Space End, Where Did Time Zones Come From and More Questions from our Readers

You asked, we answered

I heard you like stars.

Astronomers Find What May Be a Star Within a Star

The best candidate yet for an elusive Thorne-Żytkow Object

Lisa Randall is the first female theoretical physicist tenured at Harvard.

Lisa Randall’s Guide to the Galaxy

The famed cosmologist unveils her latest theories on the invisible universe, extra dimensions and human consciousness

Justin Kasper — Solar Astrophysicist at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Solar Astrophysicist at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

John Mather: Nobel Laureate & Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope

Smithsonian "Future Is Here" Featured Speaker

“Something pretty mysterious had to give rise to the origin of the universe.” –Richard Dawkins

The Building Blocks of Life May Have Come From Outer Space

The Building Blocks of Life May Have Come From Outer Space

Instruments developed at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, such as this Solar Probe, will go to the Sun in 2018.

New Angles

When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, solar particles stream along magnetic field lines, energize gases in the atmosphere and shine as norther lights.

Something New Under the Sun

Scientists are probing deep beneath the surface of our nearest star to calculate its profound effect on Earth

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Signs of Life

Astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger analyzes light from distant stars for evidence we're not alone

Prague's astronomical clock has marked time since the 15th century. Legend holds that local officials ordered the maker of this famous timepiece blinded to prevent him from duplicating his great achievement elsewhere.

Time for a Change

One professor's mission to revise the calendar

The View From the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos

Finding a Home in the Cosmos

In a new book written with his wife, Nancy Abrams, cosmologist Joel Primack argues that the universe was meant for us. Sort of

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Lighthouse of the Skies

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory probes the universe for the unimaginable

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