Some black holes are isolated in space and therefore near impossible to detect.
Some stars travel at high speeds through the universe and sometimes leave spectacular clouds of dust and gas in their wake.
NASA, ESA and R. Sahai (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Hypervelocity stars were discovered only 15 years ago and are the closest things in existence to real shooting stars. They travel at millions of miles per hour, so fast that they can escape from galaxies.
It will be a nail-biting wait as scientists launch and deploy the most complex observatory ever built.
A composite image of the data collected by the ALMA telescope in Chile, showing spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO)/T. Brown (VERTICO)
Studying the extreme environment of the Virgo Cluster — which comprises thousands of galaxies — helps us learn what factors can affect and start or stop star formation.
There’s a lot we don’t know about galaxies.
Zakharchuk/Shutterstock
Such a mission could be developed soon, allowing astrophysicists to take selfies of the solar system and use the Sun’s gravity as a lens to peer deep into space.
Hubble took pictures of the oldest galaxies it could – seen here – but the James Webb Space Telescope can go back much farther in time.
NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch into orbit in December 2021. Its mission is to search for the first light to ever shine in the universe.
Scientists have a good estimate on the staggering number of stars in the universe.
MeerKAT, the precursor to the massive Square Kilometre Array, allows astronomers to gather huge amounts of data about galaxies.
Photo by Jaco Marais/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Astronomers have taken a close-up look at the jets of plasma streaking away from a supermassive black hole - one of the strangest and most energetic features of galaxies.
Artist illustration of an exoplanet.
dottedhippo/iStock via Getty Images
Rebecca Allen, Swinburne University of Technology and Sara Webb, Swinburne University of Technology
More than 60 images capturing huge expanses of sky are sent to us from Chile. Within them we can see thousands of bright spots. What do we find when we look closer?
It can stretch your mind to ponder what’s really out there.
Stijn Dijkstra/EyeEm via Getty Images