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Astrophysics

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

According to a niche perspective called “cosmological evolution,” universes may reproduce by spawning black holes in which new universes may form. The concept is far from proven, but researchers note its potential.

Earth’s Organisms Developed Via Evolution. Some Theorists Wonder: What if the Entire Cosmos Did, Too?

The idea that universes evolve like organisms sat on the fringes of theoretical physics for decades. Then, a Substack post and a 2022 find by the James Webb Space Telescope boosted the concept

Illustration of a black hole star, an enormous black hole surrounded by dense hydrogen gas

Astronomers Peered at the Early Universe and May Have Discovered a New Kind of Celestial Object: Black Hole Stars

Since the James Webb Space Telescope started collecting data in 2022, it has found puzzling objects dubbed little red dots. A new study suggests they might be giant black holes with some characteristics of stars

The highest-resolution image of the sun's surface ever captured

Stunning New Images Reveal Whirlpools on the Sun’s Surface. The Swirling Structures Might Help Power Solar Flares

Observed directly in the solar photosphere for the first time, the vortices might braid magnetic fields, thought to be responsible for energy buildups and eventual outbursts. The features also offer clues about why the sun’s outer atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than its surface

An artistic rendering of a tidal disruption event, when a black hole rips apart and devours a star that got too close. These events help scientists find black holes, which don't emit light.

In a First, Astronomers May Have Spotted a Supermassive Black Hole That Wandered to the Edge of Its Galaxy

These giant celestial objects have mostly been identified at the centers of galaxies, where they’re known to reside. But a recently discovered one—found because of the light emitted while it snacked on a star—appears to be more than 30,000 light-years from its host galaxy’s heart

Betelgeuse, the inset image in the middle, is located in the constellation Orion, on the right. New images hint at a small companion star, shown in the inset image on the left, orbiting the supergiant star.

New Images Provide the Best Evidence Yet That Supergiant Star Betelgeuse Does, Indeed, Have a Long-Theorized Stellar Companion

The research team is mostly convinced by the data, but they want to capture additional observations in 2027 to confirm what they’ve found

An artist's impression of the CD-35 2722 star system

Is This Giant Celestial Body a Moon, a Planet or Something in Between? The Strange Object Calls Astronomical Labels Into Question

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”

The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is estimated to hit the moon on August 5.

A SpaceX Rocket Part Is Expected to Smack Into the Moon in August, Highlighting the Growing Problem of Space Junk

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 see

An artistic rendering of LHS 1140 b and its host star, with another smaller exoplanet orbiting nearby.

Could Life Exist on This Nearby World? In a First, Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on an Earth-Like Exoplanet in the Habitable Zone

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 residents

The sugar was detected near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, which shines brightly with stars in this artificially colored image.

In a First, Astronomers Find Sugar in the Space Between Stars, Providing New Clues About the Origins of Life on Earth

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 galaxy

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This Giant Planet May Have Survived the Death of Its Star. The James Webb Space Telescope Just Found Its Atmosphere

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.

Image of the constellation Lupus taken by the LSST camera

‘The Greatest Cosmic Movie Ever Made’: The World’s Largest Digital Camera Begins a Historic, Decade-Long Survey of the Night Sky

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 Time

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