Some ancient texts record what were likely dying stars, faintly visible from Earth. If close enough, these events can disturb telescopes and even damage the ozone layer.
Eclipses have inspired myths, predictions and scientific discoveries. The total solar eclipse occurring on April 8 provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with science and the cosmos.
With the help of a magnifying glass 4 million lightyears wide, astronomers may have solved the riddle of what burned away the hydrogen fog that pervaded the early universe.
The universe is expanding faster than physicists would expect. To figure out what processes underlie this fast expansion rate, some researchers are first trying to rule out what processes can’t.
Controlled experiments are impossible in astronomy, as are direct measurements of physical properties of objects outside our solar system. So how do astronomers know so much about them?
The gravitational field can affect space and time: the stronger gravity is, the slower time moves. This prediction of General Relativity can be used to reveal hidden forces acting on dark matter.
Measuring the ages of planets and stars is tricky. An observational astrophysicist describes the subtle clues that provide good estimates for how old different space objects are.
Massive flashes of energy known as ‘fast radio bursts’ have puzzled astronomers for years – and a new search for links to gravitational waves has so far found no connection.
To detect dark matter, you need to build an ultra-sensitive detector and put it somewhere ultra-quiet. For one physics collaboration, that place is almost a mile under Lead, S.D.
Bright, flickering galaxies called quasars were thought to pose a problem for our understanding of the cosmos – but new research shows Einstein was right yet again.