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Outer Space

An illustration of the Wolf 1130ABC triple system, which is composed of a red dwarf star (left), a white dwarf (center) and the brown dwarf where phosphine was detected (right).

Scientists Finally Found Phosphine on a Brown Dwarf. Here’s What That Means for the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

The detection could force astronomers to reconsider their chemical models

Saturn’s E ring contains grains of water ice from the underground ocean on its moon Enceladus.

Decades-Old Data From Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Hints at Favorable Conditions for Life

The Cassini spacecraft flew by the small, icy moon in 2008, collecting information that suggests it shoots out molecules that could enable life

Left: section of the MIRI image. Right: section of the NIRCam image. 

The James Webb Space Telescope Has Captured Our Galaxy’s Most Productive Star-Forming Region in Stunning Detail

Why Sagittarius B2 produces so many stars in comparison to the rest of the galactic center has remained an enduring mystery

Seismic data from marsquakes provide insight into the Red Planet's interior.

How Marsquakes Have Helped Researchers Investigate the Depths of the Red Planet’s Interior

Two recent studies used seismic data from NASA’s retired InSight mission to shed light on what lies beneath Mars’ surface and what it means for the planet’s history

The images, captured with the Event Horizon Telescope, show the magnetic field of the supermassive black hole M87* completely reversing.

Astronomers Watched a Black Hole Unexpectedly Flip Its Magnetic Field, Challenging Theoretical Models

A series of observations between 2017 and 2021 suggest the supermassive structure’s magnetized plasma is more dynamic than thought

The three missions launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket the morning of September 24.

‘Ultimate Cosmic Carpool’ Sends Three New Missions to Monitor Space Weather and the Protective Bubble Around Our Solar System

The spacecraft will map the boundaries of the heliosphere, study how Earth’s outer atmosphere reacts to solar activity and provide continuous monitoring of space weather

An artistic rendering depicting dozens of exoplanets

Exoplanet Discoveries Pass the 6,000 Mark, Shedding Light on How Our Solar System Compares With the Rest of the Universe

The rate of finding these distant worlds has recently increased, with astronomers scrambling to accommodate the data

A coronal mass ejection erupts from the sun in 2013.

How Prepared Are We for a Rare and Powerful Solar Event?

A coronal mass ejection could knock out power and disrupt communication on Earth

An artistic rendering of NASA's DART spacecraft approaching Dimorphos.

Asteroid-Deflecting Missions May Need to Hit Asteroids in the Perfect Spots to Prevent Future Collisions

NASA’s DART mission proved we are able to change an asteroid’s path by smashing a spacecraft into it, but exactly where we hit a rocky body is important

The Perseverance rover sampled Cheyava Falls, a rock with "leopard spots," on Mars last year.

NASA Discovers ‘Clearest Sign’ Yet of Ancient Life on Mars in a Rock Studied by the Perseverance Rover

Minerals in the rock might have been produced by microbes in chemical reactions, but researchers say they’ll need to examine the sample more closely to know for sure

GRB 250702B was spotted in July.

Astronomers Discover Unusual, Long-Lasting Gamma-Ray Explosion Outside Our Galaxy That Appeared Several Times Throughout a Day

The burst seems to have been caused by a highly extraordinary event, but scientists don’t yet know exactly what that could be

A solar flare with the Earth for scale.

Solar Flares May Be Way Hotter Than Researchers Previously Thought

Scientists recalculated the temperature of solar flares using modern data and new models

The James Webb Space Telescope, with data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, together captured the dusty core of the Butterfly Nebula.

See the Stunning Butterfly Nebula in a New Image From the James Webb Space Telescope

The observations offer an unprecedented look at the center of the nebula, which is shrouded in a band of dust

An artist's depiction of the newly discovered "quadruple system" within the Milky Way. In it, two brown dwarfs orbit each other at the right, and together, they orbit a pair of red dwarf stars at the left.

Astronomers Spot a Rare Quadruple Star System in the Milky Way, Shedding Light on Mysterious Brown Dwarfs

The discovery can help astronomers better understand these little-known objects nicknamed “failed stars”

Where did the Big Bang take place? Is it now at the center of the universe? 

Where Did the Big Bang Happen? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of 3I/ATLAS with its Wide Field Camera 3.

Telescopes Reveal Surprising Chemistry of a Rare Interstellar Object Passing Through Our Solar System

Called 3I/ATLAS, the object is only the third of its kind known to astronomers, and it’s likely been heading our way for billions of years, carrying pristine material from another star system

An artist's rendition of CHIME and its Outriggers across North America localizing the radio burst.

Astronomers Spot the Brightest Fast Radio Burst Ever Detected and Observe Stars Around Its Origin for the First Time

Using two telescopes, scientists were able to pinpoint the location of the fleeting phenomenon with surprising accuracy

Bloom patterns resemble flowers as they unfold.

New Research

College Sophomore Discovers New Origami Pattern That Could Be Used to Build Telescopes and Satellites

Based on the work of a student at Brigham Young University, origami theorists have unlocked a new set of patterns that could change space exploration

An illustration of SN2021yfj enveloped in a layer of heavy elements during its supernova explosion

A Unique Supernova ‘Dazzled’ Astronomers and Revealed the Inner Layers of Stars

Researchers observed a supernova in progress that showed the onion-like structure of elements in stars, and the explosion may belong to a class of its own

New moons are only visible during solar eclipses. This visualization of a tiny sliver, for example, is technically a crescent moon.

What Is a Black Moon? The Unusual Sky Phenomenon Will Occur Later This Month, but Don’t Expect to See It

A seasonal black moon, to appear on August 22 or 23, is the third of four new moons within an astronomical season

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