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Astrophysics

The new dwarf planet candidate, called 2026 ED138, orbits on a plane tiled nearly 25 degrees compared to our solar system's main planets, suggesting it was disturbed by gravitational interactions with Neptune.

Astronomers Found a Mysterious Object Orbiting Far Beyond Pluto. It Could Be a New Dwarf Planet Hidden in Our Solar System

The dwarf planet candidate, called ED138, appeared in telescope images and takes roughly 280 years to orbit the sun. Astronomers need to determine its size to properly classify it

Most of the research team's computer simulations resulted in no comets hitting Earth during its early years.

What Seeded Life on Earth? New Research Challenges the Longstanding Theory That Comets Brought the Ingredients to Our Planet

Computer simulations suggest comets carrying a key precursor to many of life’s building blocks would have rarely—if ever—successfully reached Earth’s surface. And even if they did, only specific landing conditions would have allowed the precursor molecule to drive biologically relevant reactions

On November 18, Voyager 1 will reach 16.094 billion miles from Earth, the distance light travels in 24 hours.

Voyager 1 Is the Farthest Human-Made Object in the Universe—and the Spacecraft Is About to Reach One Light-Day From Earth

The probe and its twin, Voyager 2, have been hurtling through space for almost 50 years, stretching humanity’s reach into interstellar space. The upcoming milestone is a testament to scientific endeavor and ingenuity

Simulation of gas structures as electrons were removed from helium by radiation emitted by early stars and black holes.

See a Stunning Simulation of the Early Universe, Which Will Help Astronomers Shed Light on the Cosmic Dark Ages

The model, created by researchers at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, and other institutions, captures how the first stars and black holes gradually illuminated the universe after millions of years of darkness

Over the past couple of years, Swift had been falling out of orbit faster than expected.

After Observing the Sky for 22 Years, a Beloved NASA Space Telescope Is Expected to Meet a Fiery Death This Week

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched in 2004 and detected thousands of astrophysical phenomena, leading to some huge discoveries. Earlier this year, experts attempted a first-of-its-kind rescue mission to save the falling telescope, but it failed

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman discussed the plan for Artemis 3 during a press briefing.

In NASA’s Plan for Artemis 3, SpaceX and Blue Origin Will Compete to Have Their Landers Take Humans Back to the Moon’s Surface

The 14-day mission, slated for mid-2027, will serve as a test to see which company’s lunar lander performs better in low-Earth orbit. Both will practice docking, habitation and operational procedures essential for the return to the moon, planned for 2028

Caspar David Friedrich’s The Evening Star is noteworthy for its Romantic sweep—and for the elusiveness of the stellar body (Venus) in its title. 

How Astronomers and Art Historians Are Working Together to Identify the Inspiration Behind Famous Works of Art

Researchers study paintings and literature to uncover untold history of the works, sometimes finding themselves trying to discern celestial bodies from dust

The team pinpointed the FRB's host galaxy thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. 

Astronomers Detect the Oldest Known Fast Radio Burst, Spewed From an Ancient Galaxy Just Three Billion Years After the Big Bang

The universe formed 13.8 billion years ago, so this far-traveled burst of radio waves can help scientists learn more about the early cosmos. However, researchers still aren’t sure what produces these strange flashes

An artist's impression of white dwarf J1330+6435, which might appear ghostly green because of certain elements in its dense atmosphere

In a First, Astronomers Identify a Star That Might Glow Green. New Research Highlights the Strange Hues White Dwarfs Can Take on

White dwarf stars are too far from Earth to be observed directly. So, scientists reconstructed how they’d look to human eyes based on the wavelengths of light they emit and found a colorful array of objects that might appear yellow, purple or pink

Leap seconds have kept our clocks more or less aligned with astronomical time.

It’s Official: Timekeepers Have Gotten Rid of the Leap Second—and Introduced the Leap Hour Instead

Since 1972, experts have added 27 seconds to Coordinated Universal Time to keep it aligned with Earth’s rotation, but it has been an imperfect fix

Francis Halzen is a Belgian American physicist who studies neutrinos, sometimes called "ghost particles," which come from space and rarely interact with ordinary matter.

Physicist Wins Nobel Prize for Developing a Massive, Ice-Embedded Observatory That Detects Ghostly Cosmic Particles

Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison led the effort to build the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. His work birthed the field of neutrino astronomy

Mercury as seen by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft during a flyby in 2008, before it began orbiting the planet.

Mercury Has Wrinkles That Show It’s Shrinking. Now, Scientists Say the Planet Has Shriveled Far More Than Previously Thought

A new study suggests that our solar system’s smallest planet has shrunk by up to 30 percent since its birth roughly 4.5 billion years ago

Galaxy NGC 1386, which hosts an active supermassive black hole that was analyzed in a new study

Active Supermassive Black Holes May Be Engines of Star Formation, Not Just Destruction, Study Suggests

Scientists mapped out the structure of nine bright cores of galaxies located near the Milky Way and revealed common patterns that could shed light on how the universe evolved

Venus is one of only two planets in our solar system that lack a moon. (Mercury is the other.)

Billions of Years Ago, Venus May Have Had a Moon—Which the Planet Promptly Gobbled Up, Study Suggests

Scientists have puzzled over why the planet dubbed “Earth’s twin” doesn’t have a moon. Computer simulations hint that if Venus ever did have one, it probably would’ve cannibalized its companion

If a theoretical dark matter particle interacts with liquid xenon in an underground tank, these light sensors should detect the resulting flash of light. 

Scientists May Have Finally Detected a Hint of Dark Matter, the Mysterious, Invisible Stuff That Holds the Universe Together

A South Dakota-based instrument built to detect theoretical dark matter particles has sensed a particle interaction that’s difficult to explain with known phenomena. But more data is needed to confirm that the strange substance—which scientists have never directly observed—is, indeed, the culprit

Observations by amateur astronomers and imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a ten-sided shape around Saturn’s south pole.

A Mysterious Decagon Unexpectedly Appeared Around Saturn’s South Pole. The Ten-Sided Shape Seems to Be a Wave in the Atmosphere

Decades ago, scientists found a hexagon around Saturn’s north pole. Now, recent images reveal a decagon in the planet’s southern hemisphere—and it seems to have recently formed

NASA has been planning and developing the Roman Space Telescope for 16 years.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Launches to Find Exoplanets and Unravel Mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy

The new observatory will complete three surveys of the universe in five years, although it’s designed to function at least twice as long. Its data could change scientists’ basic understanding of the cosmos

Many stars orbit the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole. But S301's orbit, shown in red, is the only one known to be close enough to feel the effects of the black hole's theorized spin.

This Star Orbits Our Galaxy’s Heart at a Record-Breaking Speed—and Could Help Uncover Secrets About the Behemoth Black Hole There

The speedster travels at up to 56 million miles per hour, or about 8 percent the speed of light. It also gets very close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way

The Helix Nebula with bow shocks on the upper left

A New Telescope Still Under Construction Accidentally Reveals How a Dying Star Returns Matter to Space

Researchers captured an unprecedented image of the stellar recycling process while calibrating a Chile-based instrument called MOTHRA, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2026

An artistic rendering of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which is now falling after watching the sky for more than 20 years.

NASA-Funded Mission to Rescue a Falling Space Telescope Officially Ends in Failure

The commercial LINK spacecraft was supposed to give NASA’s Swift observatory a boost, pushing it higher into orbit to extend its life. But after launch, LINK experienced several problems. Swift is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up by the end of this year

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