China’s Tiangong-1 Finally Crashes Back to Earth
Most of the craft likely burned up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere
The Rockstar Geologist Who Mapped the Minerals of the Cosmos
A professor told Ursula Marvin she should learn to cook. Instead she chased down meteorites in Antarctica
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
Jupiter’s Auroras Are Surprisingly Out of Sync
X-ray bursts from the poles are expected to line up, but the south is regular while the north produces haphazard bursts
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
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
Use This App to Get the Most From the Coming Eclipse
With livestreams, simulations and safety guides, this Solar Eclipse app will be the key tool for the upcoming astronomical extravaganza
Could You Crash Into a Black Hole?
Probably not, but it’s fun to think about
Exoplanet Discovery Arrives in Time for New Telescope Technology
Astronomers call LHS 1140b one of the “best targets” for hunting liquid water with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
How Do New Planets Get Their Names?
Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines
Scientists Spot Seven Earth-Sized Planets Orbiting a Nearby Star
This newly discovered solar system presents the best opportunity yet to study potentially habitable worlds, NASA scientists report
How Astrophysicists Found a Black Hole Where No One Else Could
A new method could help scientists peer inside universe’s densest star clusters to find undiscovered black holes
The Coldest, Driest, Most Remote Place on Earth Is the Best Place to Build a Radio Telescope
This remote Antarctic field station is an ice-covered arid desert, perfect for peering deep into space
In “The Glass Universe,” Dava Sobel Brings the Women ‘Computers’ of Harvard Observatory to Light
Women are at the center of a new book that delights not in isolated genius, but in collaboration and cooperation
Solving the Mystery of the Milky Way’s Missing Mass
Smithsonian scientists have discovered a huge cloud of super hot gas expanding from the middle of our galaxy
Stephen Hawking on Why Black Holes Are Worthy of Your Consideration
A new Harvard-Smithsonian initiative will delve into the places in the universe where spacetime sags around massive objects
Dead Star Shredding a Rocky Body Offers a Preview of Earth’s Fate
The stellar corpse spotted by a NASA telescope backs up a theory that white dwarf stars eat planetary remnants
Life May Have Spread Through the Galaxy Like a Plague
If alien life is distributed in a pattern that mirrors epidemics, it could be strong support for the theory of panspermia
An Easter Typhoon and Galactic Ghosts Are Among These Spacey Visions
Astronauts spy a colossal eye and Hubble sees echoes of quasars past in our picks for the week’s best space images
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