Astronomers

The spinning magnetar transferred a remarkable amount of energy to the debris created by the collision, heating the material up and generating a bright glow.

In a First, Astronomers Witnessed the Birth of a Supermassive Magnetar Following a Glorious Kilonova

The scientists originally thought that the cosmic crash would create a black hole

On Earth, most people are familiar with ultraviolet radiation’s harmful effects on our skin, but in space, astronauts are also subjected to galactic cosmic rays, accelerated solar particles, neutrons and gamma rays.

Moonwalking Humans Get Blasted With 200 Times the Radiation Experienced on Earth

The new findings will inform how much shielding future astronauts will need to safely explore the moon

European authorities recovered 200 rare books, including valuable first editions of works by Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, last week.

Stolen First Editions by Galileo, Newton Discovered Beneath Floor in Romania

Authorities have recovered 200 rare books pilfered in a 2017 London heist

A split image showing an active Sun during solar maximum (on the left, taken in 2014) and a quiet Sun during solar minimum (on the right, taken in 2019).

A New Solar Cycle Promises Calm Space Weather

Experts say the sun’s next decade will likely feature a low number of events like solar flares that can disrupt power grids and satellites

A new study suggests the Nebra Sky Disc is 1,000 years younger than previously assumed.

Is This Ancient Map of the Cosmos Younger Than Previously Thought?

A controversial new analysis of the Nebra Sky Disc suggests the artifact dates to the Iron Age, not the Bronze Age

A lower resolution copy of a 3,200 megapixel image of Romanesco broccoli. The photo was taken by a camera being built to help the Vera Rubin Observatory's telescope study space.

Scientists Tested Out the World's Largest Digital Camera on a Piece of Broccoli

Soon, it’ll photograph the cosmos. But first, scientists used it to snap a highly-detailed picture of an ordinary vegetable

This illustration depicts what Andromeda's gaseous halo might look like if it were visible to humans on Earth. At three times the size of the Big Dipper, the halo would be "easily the biggest feature on the nighttime sky," per the NASA statement.

Andromeda's Halo of Gases Is Bumping Up Against Our Own, Scientists Say

Researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope mapped the gaseous halo that surrounds the Andromeda Galaxy

In the background, an image taken from the Northern Hemisphere of Comet NEOWISE on July 18, 2020. Inset, the Hubble Space Telescope's most recent snapshot of NEOWISE, taken on August 8 as it careens away from Earth.

Hubble Snapshots Reveal That Comet Neowise Survived Its Trip Around the Sun

A close-up taken in August shows the 11,000-mile-wide cloud of dust and gas that shrouds the comet

Here, scientists at the Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory use the visible, green wavelength of light to shoot lasers at the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The laser facility at the Université Côte d’Azur in Grasse, France, developed a new technique that uses infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, to beam laser light to the Moon.

Scientists Shot Lasers at a Lunar Orbiter for a Decade. Then, One Bounced Back

The success might help scientists troubleshoot problems with a data-collection project that dates back to the Apollo era

US satellite SpaceX Starlink 5 is seen in the night passing above Denmark, on April 21, 2020.

How Will Amazon’s Planned Satellite Megaconstellation Impact the Night Sky?

The company plans to launch 3,236 satellites, but astronomers are worried about possible ramifications

New research posits that Johannes Vermeer painted View of Delft in September 1659 or 1658.

Astronomy Offers Fresh Look at Vermeer's 'View of Delft'

Analysis of sunlight and shadows suggests the Dutch masterpiece portrays the city around 8 a.m. in early September 1659 or 1658

An artist’s rendering of the mysterious object, which has a mass about 2.6 times that of the sun and was consumed by a black hole some 23 times the mass of the sun. Astronomers say it's less massive than any known black hole and more massive than any known collapsed star, called a neutron star.

Distant Black Hole Collides With a Mysterious Object

Scientists detect what is either the heaviest known neutron star or the least massive black hole ever recorded

A near-infrared, color image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows the sun glinting off of north polar seas on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Similar glints were spotted from Earth in 2000 at Titan's equator but Cassini found no evidence of liquid there.

Bright Patches on Saturn’s Largest Moon Are Dried-Up Lake Beds

New study tackles a 20-year-old mystery about Titan, the second-largest moon in the solar system

Scientists have recorded footage of a black hole shooting hot gas and energy into space

Watch This Black Hole Spew Gas and Energy Into Space

A new video shows a black hole, about 10,000 light years away from Earth, shooting enormous jets of matter

Kathy Sullivan, left, and Victor Vescovo, right

Astronaut Kathy Sullivan Becomes First Woman to Reach Deepest Part of the Ocean

Sullivan is now the first person to have both walked in space and descend to the furthest reaches of the seafloor

At the center of the swirl, a bright yellow spot is has a characteristic twist that indicates the birth of a new exoplanet.

This Very Large Telescope Snapped an Exoplanet's Baby Photos

The fiery swirl looks like a "Doctor Who" title card, but it’s actually a photograph of a planet-in-progress 520 light year away

An artist's rendering of what a moon base might look like

Astronauts Could Use Their Own Pee to Build a Moon Base

A compound in human urine can be used to create 'lunar concrete,' new research suggests

Venus' volatile atmosphere expands in the sun, creating a low pressure area that drives strong winds around the planet.

The Forces Behind Venus’ Super-Rotating Atmosphere

Earth’s sister planet spins slowly, but its atmosphere whips around at high speeds

On April 24, 1991—a year after it was launched into space—Hubble snapped a shot of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, a relic of a star that exploded in a massive cataclysm about 15,000 years ago.

This NASA Website Shows What the Hubble Telescope Saw on Your Birthday

The snazzy search is part of the telescope’s 30th anniversary celebration

A conceptual diagram, showing the installation of a telescope in a crater on the far (dark) side of the moon.

The Far Side of the Moon May Someday Have Its Own Telescope, Thanks to NASA Funding

The project hasn’t yet been greenlit, but a proposal just got major funding to explore the potential for the lunar observatory

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