/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1e/3c/1e3c6888-71d6-4a27-b0ed-53a8b307c983/apr2018_b01_asksmithsonian-wr2.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/90/3c/903ce2e7-4744-4d84-83b1-5c0206788f78/file-20180314-113462-12zuv3e.jpg)
How It All Began: A Colleague Reflects On the Remarkable Life of Stephen Hawking
The physicist probed the mysteries of black holes, expanded our understanding of the universe and captured the world’s imagination, says Martin Rees
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/78/8a/788a653b-053a-41d7-bd21-d2dff164f6ed/early_stars.jpeg)
Astronomers May Have Just Detected the Universe’s First Stars
A long-sought radio signal indicates the first stars began burning 180 million years after the initial Big Bang
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/c2/af/c2afa224-cf2b-45d5-a27c-f6d6ce139f24/pia17566_orig-wr.jpg)
Fifty Years Ago, a Grad Student’s Discovery Changed the Course of Astrophysics
By identifying the first pulsars, Jocelyn Bell Burnell set the stage for discoveries in black holes and gravitational waves
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/e7/dc/e7dcbf6e-9c6f-4008-8fd2-55d3dd5dd756/extrasolar_planets.jpg)
Astronomers Spot Signs of Planets Outside the Milky Way
Researchers estimate that more than a trillion planets may lurk beyond our galaxy’s bounds
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/17/ba/17ba7ef1-b5d9-4157-a66f-e3c67aa73af0/gruis.jpg)
Astronomers Get Best Look Yet at the Surface of a Red Giant Star
The image shows convection cells on the star are huge, confirming some theories about star evolution
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d9/de/d9def891-cd6f-4220-9d0c-222dc21cd55b/ancient_galaxy.jpg)
Behold Hubble’s Best Image of a Distant Galaxy Yet
The galaxy is roughly 13.3 billion light years away, and formed just 500 million years after the universe began
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/11/52/115221a2-7af0-4c65-8a1f-41ea0d97264c/121supermassive-black-hole-burp.png)
Astronomers Spy a Black Hole’s Double ‘Burp’
New observations suggest that black holes cycle between activity and rest
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/6e/2a/6e2a0cc7-867d-4921-a96d-f367701debae/arecibo_high_-_frbs_spiral-300dpi-35x50cm_0.jpg)
New Clues to the Origins of the Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts From Space
New analysis suggests that the bursts originate near massive black holes or neutron stars
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/0d/9c/0d9cdc8f-aeb9-417a-b469-f9ecba7a934c/tabby.jpg)
Dust, Not an Alien Megastructure, Likely Causes Strange Winks in Tabby’s Star Brightness
After extensive observations, researchers can now confidently say: It’s not aliens
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/de/36/de36f7d4-286c-49cc-8412-cb6ba0082df7/extra_large-1510676274-cover-image.jpg)
In Attempt to Contact Intelligent Life, Group Sends Musical Signal Toward Planet GJ 273b
Though the chances are slim, the team hopes this latest transmission is just the first of many
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d1/eb/d1eb2809-ae01-4c50-abc8-079d82dac72d/hubble_big_bang.jpg)
Astronomers Spot One of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe
The dusty, star-forming galaxy is 12.8 billion years old
:focal(3002x3783:3003x3784)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/fb/e7/fbe7369f-d38a-4ef0-a926-c2459176d971/a6hx4b_1.jpg)
How Scientists Identified the Oldest Known Solar Eclipse … Using the Bible
The new research by two physicists adds to astronomical knowledge—and overturns previous Biblical interpretations
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/b0/de/b0def6b0-5260-4122-9f4b-c4fbc83c7cf9/stellar_dust.jpg)
Our Nearest Neighbor Might Harbor Its Own Solar System
New data from Proxima Centauri shows it has a ring of cold dust—a sign that many planets may orbit the distant star
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/51/c5/51c5dc00-fe47-4fe4-ad15-4117b40e48c3/153516_web.jpg)
What the Neutron Star Collision Means for Dark Matter
The latest LIGO observations rekindle a fiery debate over how gravity works: Does the universe include dark matter, or doesn’t it?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/82/3b/823b90c1-9446-4a75-bc55-73d31b12c4e4/hawking_with_newtons_copy_of_principia_mathematica_please_credit_graham_copekoga.jpg)
Stephen Hawking’s PhD Thesis Goes Online, Crashing Internet Servers
After less than a day on the internet, it racked up 60,000 downloads
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/42/12/4212acaa-4548-4826-bd30-6cc00cf8ff68/gw170817cloudc-2.jpg)
Scientists Spot the Spark From Ancient Collision of Neutron Stars
The chirp and flash from the event offers clues to the origin of Earth’s precious metals
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/47/c4/47c4b47f-876f-4899-a449-a6a2a5847791/pulsar.jpg)
World’s Largest Radio Telescope Spies Its First Pulsars
Still in its trial run, the China’s FAST radio telescope has already identified two new pulsars and perhaps a dozen more
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/c7/e9/c7e98451-0bb9-4560-9398-6b5da4808e22/keplers_supernova.jpg)
How a 1604 Supernova Presented a Challenge to Astronomers
The supernova provided proof to Galileo, Kepler and others that the heavens were not fixed–although they were wrong about what caused the bright star
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/04/63/04633bf9-c7bf-498f-bd5c-992b955692de/solar_flare.jpg)
Could a Magnetic Shield Protect Earth From Space Weather?
A bad geomagnetic storm would fry the electric grid and cripple civilization for years—a space shield is cheap by comparison
Page 13 of 18