https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/astrophysics/RSS feed for AstrophysicsenFri, 24 Jul 2026 17:14:09 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/is-this-giant-celestial-body-a-moon-a-planet-or-something-in-between-the-strange-object-calls-astrononomical-labels-into-question-180989183/The newly found object, estimated to be roughly as massive as Jupiter, orbits a brown dwarf—a "failed star"—which in turn circles a small star. For now, researchers are calling the puzzling body an "exosatellite"Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:14:09 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/is-this-giant-celestial-body-a-moon-a-planet-or-something-in-between-the-strange-object-calls-astrononomical-labels-into-question-180989183/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/A-spacex-rocket-part-is-expected-to-smack-into-the-moon-in-august-highlighting-the-growing-problem-of-space-junk-180989173/The unintended event also creates an opportunity for scientists and skywatchers to witness lunar impact dynamics in real time, although the debris will hit a sunlit portion of the moon from the perspective of Earth, making it hard to seeWed, 22 Jul 2026 19:44:04 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/A-spacex-rocket-part-is-expected-to-smack-into-the-moon-in-august-highlighting-the-growing-problem-of-space-junk-180989173/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/could-life-exist-on-this-nearby-world-in-a-first-astronomers-find-an-atmosphere-on-an-earth-like-exoplanet-in-the-habitable-zone-180989149/While the celestial body seems to host three features that could make a livable environment—an atmosphere, a rocky composition and a temperature that could allow liquid water to sit on the surface—researchers have not currently detected any residentsTue, 21 Jul 2026 16:23:23 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/could-life-exist-on-this-nearby-world-in-a-first-astronomers-find-an-atmosphere-on-an-earth-like-exoplanet-in-the-habitable-zone-180989149/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-find-sugar-in-the-space-between-stars-providing-new-clues-about-the-origins-of-life-on-earth-180989122/Sugars are crucial components of RNA and DNA, the basis of all known organisms alive today. In a new study, the sugar erythrulose was detected in a gas- and dust-filled cloud near the center of our Milky Way galaxyWed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-find-sugar-in-the-space-between-stars-providing-new-clues-about-the-origins-of-life-on-earth-180989122/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-giant-planet-survived-the-death-of-its-star-the-james-webb-space-telescope-just-found-its-atmosphere-180989077/New observations of WD 1856 b, a gas giant closely orbiting a white dwarf, offer a preview of what could happen to Jupiter and Saturn after the sun dies in about five billion years.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:09:34 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-giant-planet-survived-the-death-of-its-star-the-james-webb-space-telescope-just-found-its-atmosphere-180989077/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-greatest-cosmic-movie-ever-made-the-worlds-largest-digital-camera-begins-a-historic-decade-long-survey-of-the-night-sky-180989059/After a year of testing, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has started capturing data as part of the much-anticipated Legacy Survey of Space and TimeWed, 01 Jul 2026 21:21:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-greatest-cosmic-movie-ever-made-the-worlds-largest-digital-camera-begins-a-historic-decade-long-survey-of-the-night-sky-180989059/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-most-detailed-photo-of-the-milky-ways-heart-ever-taken-in-visible-light-which-will-help-astronomers-hunt-for-exoplanets-180989027/The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope was built to study dark matter and dark energy, but for one day last year, it captured the densely packed stars brightening the center of our galaxyFri, 26 Jun 2026 21:09:42 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-most-detailed-photo-of-the-milky-ways-heart-ever-taken-in-visible-light-which-will-help-astronomers-hunt-for-exoplanets-180989027/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-might-be-the-oldest-object-ever-seen-in-our-solar-system-a-study-suggests-180989007/Based on the composition of gases spewed by the icy space rock, researchers estimate that our guest might be up to 12 billion years old—about three times the age of the solar systemWed, 24 Jun 2026 19:55:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-might-be-the-oldest-object-ever-seen-in-our-solar-system-a-study-suggests-180989007/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-first-nuclear-clocks-are-ticking-opening-a-new-way-to-investigate-dark-matter-and-other-mysteries-of-physics-180989002/Two independent teams of scientists have created the first functional clocks that can keep ultraprecise time using the nuclei of a radioactive elementWed, 24 Jun 2026 16:37:19 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-first-nuclear-clocks-are-ticking-opening-a-new-way-to-investigate-dark-matter-and-other-mysteries-of-physics-180989002/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/this-week-nasa-will-launch-a-first-of-its-kind-mission-to-save-a-space-telescope-that-has-observed-the-sky-for-nearly-22-years-180988998/In 2024, researchers realized that the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory was falling from its orbit faster than expected. Now, a robotic spacecraft called LINK aims to give the satellite a boostTue, 23 Jun 2026 18:21:57 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/this-week-nasa-will-launch-a-first-of-its-kind-mission-to-save-a-space-telescope-that-has-observed-the-sky-for-nearly-22-years-180988998/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-discovered-a-cosmic-fossil-in-the-making-the-most-chemically-primitive-galaxy-seen-yet-by-peering-back-to-the-edge-of-time-180988954/The James Webb Space Telescope observed 13-billion-year-old light, using a closer galactic cluster like a magnifying glass. The work helps experts understand the universe’s earliest stars and mysterious ultra-faint dwarf galaxiesThu, 18 Jun 2026 16:41:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-discovered-a-cosmic-fossil-in-the-making-the-most-chemically-primitive-galaxy-seen-yet-by-peering-back-to-the-edge-of-time-180988954/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-a-stunning-view-of-the-southern-lights-dancing-across-the-earth-captured-by-a-nasa-astronaut-180988960/Jessica Meir, commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission, shared photos and videos of a green aurora she shot while sheltering in a capsule outside the International Space StationTue, 16 Jun 2026 16:04:53 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-a-stunning-view-of-the-southern-lights-dancing-across-the-earth-captured-by-a-nasa-astronaut-180988960/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-supermassive-black-hole-at-the-heart-of-our-galaxy-seems-to-be-blowing-wind-just-as-scientists-long-theorized-180988908/Scientists have been searching for evidence of this breeze since the 1970s. They've seen intense wind from other black holes, but they've struggled to observe the one at the Milky Way's centerFri, 05 Jun 2026 19:34:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-supermassive-black-hole-at-the-heart-of-our-galaxy-seems-to-be-blowing-wind-just-as-scientists-long-theorized-180988908/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasa-officially-ends-the-maven-mission-months-after-losing-contact-with-the-mars-orbiter-180988897/The agency last heard from the spacecraft on December 6. Recovered fragmentary data suggest that MAVEN was spinning unexpectedly, hinting at a change in its trajectory and draining its batteriesThu, 04 Jun 2026 18:51:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasa-officially-ends-the-maven-mission-months-after-losing-contact-with-the-mars-orbiter-180988897/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-bright-meteor-lit-up-the-new-england-sky-before-exploding-with-a-loud-boom-and-its-pieces-may-have-landed-in-cape-cod-bay-180988869/People reported seeing the glowing space rock or hearing or feeling its breakup from Delaware to Montreal. Experts estimate that it was about three feet wide and traveling at 75,000 miles per hour when it broke apartMon, 01 Jun 2026 18:44:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-bright-meteor-lit-up-the-new-england-sky-before-exploding-with-a-loud-boom-and-its-pieces-may-have-landed-in-cape-cod-bay-180988869/