Radiation from the brightest cosmic explosion ever seen may have been mixing with gas and dust around its dying star – making the signal last longer.
New research shows that the destructive merging of a star and a planet expels huge amounts of gas, as shown in this artist’s impression.
K. Miller/R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)
Stars begin to expand when they run out of fuel and can become thousands of times larger, consuming any planets in the way. For the first time, astronomers have witnessed one such event.
Penumbral lunar eclipses slightly darken the Moon.
H. Raab/Wikipedia Commons
Artificial intelligence tools are making waves in almost every aspect of life, and astronomy is no different. An astronomer explains the history and future of AI in understanding the universe.
The star system V883 Orionis contains a rare star surrounded by a disk of gas, ice and dust.
A. Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF)/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
Astronomers have long known where water is first formed in the universe and how it ends up on planets, asteroids and comets. A recent discovery has finally answered what happens in between.
The TOI-700 star system is home to four planets, including two in its habitable zone that could host liquid water.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
With more than 5,000 known exoplanets, astronomers are shifting their focus from discovering additional distant worlds to identifying which are good candidates for further study.
All human development, from large cities to small towns, shines light into the night sky.
Benny Ang/Flickr
People travel hundreds or thousands of miles and spend a fortune to see the night sky in all its splendor. But we are literally blocking out the cosmic beauty above our homes.
Skies in the Northern Hemisphere have been graced by a rare, green comet. Now, it’s our turn to look for it in Australia – but the view will be dimming rapidly.
Discover how a picture of the sky can become a symphony.
Chandra X-ray Observatory
A year on since the historic launch of the most powerful infrared telescope in human history, we admire and explore some of the best images it delivered in 2022.
When two neutron stars merge and create a black hole, they produce a powerful blast of gamma rays.
A. Simonnet (Sonoma State Univ.) and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Gamma-ray bursts occur when a massive star explodes or when two neutron stars merge. A newly discovered burst has puzzled astronomers, as it lasted much longer than astronomers would have expected.
Your zodiac sign – like Sagittarius, the archer – might be in the stars, but your future isn’t.
scaliger/iStock via Getty Images Plus
It has been one year since the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and six months since the first pictures were released. Astronomers are already learning unexpected things about the early universe.
A new particle accelerator at Michigan State University is set to discover thousands of never-before-seen isotopes.
Facility for Rare Isotope Beams
A new particle accelerator has just begun operation. It is the most powerful accelerator of its kind on Earth and will allow physicists to study some of the rarest matter in the universe.
Astronomers think the most likely place to find life in the galaxy is on super-Earths, like Kepler-69c, seen in this artist’s rendering.
NASA Ames/JPL-CalTech
Newly discovered super-Earths add to the list of planets around other stars that offer the best chance of finding life. An astronomer explains what makes these super-Earths such excellent candidates.
There could be a planetary heist going on in the star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula.
NASA/James Webb Telescope
A comparison of star-forming galaxies suggests, surprisingly, that dark matter and visible matter do interact – taking us closer to understanding what keeps the galaxies together.