Bizarre Dark Object Could Be First-Known ‘Empty’ Galaxy from the Early Universe
A serendipitously discovered object nearly as massive as the Milky Way appears to be made of primordial gas that has formed almost no stars
Stories by Jonathan O'Callaghan
Jonathan O'Callaghan is an award-winning freelance journalist covering astronomy, astrophysics, commercial spaceflight and space exploration. Follow him on Twitter @Astro_Jonny
The Science of 2024’s Epic Solar Eclipse, the Last for a Generation
Unique studies of gravity waves, atmospheric holes and dazzling coronal displays will accompany April’s total solar eclipse across the U.S., Mexico and Canada
In the Search for Life beyond Earth, NASA Dreams Big for a Future Space Telescope
Astronomers are moving ahead in planning NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, a telescope designed to answer the ultimate question: Are we alone in the universe?
The Second Most Powerful Cosmic Ray in History Came from—Nowhere?
Amaterasu—the most powerful cosmic ray seen in three decades—seems to come from an empty point of the sky. New telescopes may solve the mystery of its origins
Mysterious ‘Tasmanian Devil’ Space Explosion Baffles Astronomers
Scientists still can’t explain what is causing unusually bright explosions in space—but a surprising observation might offer clues
‘Monster Quake’ Hints at Mysterious Source within Mars
Images from each and every spacecraft now orbiting Mars have ruled out a meteorite strike as the cause of a 4.7-magnitude marsquake, the strongest temblor ever detected beyond Earth
Beyond Pluto, New Horizons Gets a Reprieve from NASA
NASA has reversed course on plans to curtail the New Horizons spacecraft’s planetary science studies following a rebellion among the mission’s leaders
Pangaea Ultima, the Next Supercontinent, May Doom Mammals to Far-Future Extinction
250 million years from now, the emergence of a new supercontinent could render most of Earth’s surface uninhabitable for mammals
This Bizarre Star Could Become One of the Strongest Magnets in the Universe
Magnetars possess magnetic fields that are trillions of times stronger than those of ordinary stars. Now we might have seen one of these extraordinary objects about to form
Russia Launches First Moon Mission after Half-Century Hiatus
The Luna 25 spacecraft will attempt to land at the lunar south pole for the first time in a hunt for valuable water ice
A Background ‘Hum’ Pervades the Universe. Scientists Are Racing to Find Its Source
Astronomers are now seeking to pinpoint the origins of an exciting new form of gravitational waves that was announced earlier this year
Nearby Supernova Gives Unique View of a Dying Star’s Last Days
Astronomers are piecing together the final moments of supernova 2023ixf and learning more about it than any other in recent history
Europe’s Euclid Space Telescope Is Launching a New Era in Studies of the ‘Dark Universe’
The Euclid mission will probe dark energy and dark matter like never before, setting the stage for an international, multiobservatory push to solve some of the universe’s deepest mysteries
At Last, Astronomers May Have Seen the Universe’s First Stars
Telltale evidence gathered by the James Webb Space Telescope suggests we’re closer than ever before to finding elusive Population III stars
JWST Will Hunt for Dead Solar Systems—And Much More—In Its Second Year of Science
White dwarfs, Earth-sized exoplanets, early galaxies and even Saturn’s moon Enceladus are on the agenda for JWST’s second year in space, but exomoons and others miss out
Mirror-Image Supernova Yields Surprising Estimate of Cosmic Growth
A new way to gauge the universe’s expansion rate has delivered a confusing result that may conflict with previous related measurements
Where Did Mars’s Moons Come From?
New results from a U.A.E. orbiter suggest Mars’s moons may be pieces of the planet. A Japanese mission will tell us for sure
JWST’s Newfound Galaxies Are the Oldest Ever Seen
We now know that the first galaxies in our universe formed shockingly fast, thanks to the latest results from the James Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s Perseverance Rover May Already Have Evidence of Ancient Martian Life
A half-kilogram’s worth of samples gathered by NASA’s Perseverance rover for eventual return to Earth holds weighty implications for life on Mars
At Jupiter, JUICE and Clipper Will Work Together in Hunt for Life
A new European mission is the first of two spacecraft—with the other coming from NASA—that will hunt for signs of habitability on Jupiter’s icy moons
Scientists Made a New Kind Of Ice That Might Exist on Distant Moons
The “amorphous” solid is denser and could be water “frozen in time”
JWST Heralds a New Dawn for Exoplanet Science
The James Webb Space Telescope is opening an exciting new chapter in the study of exoplanets and the search for life beyond Earth
NASA’s Pluto Spacecraft Begins New Mission at the Solar System’s Edge
New Horizons is about to wake up and study the Kuiper Belt, the universe, and even Uranus and Neptune. But a new target to visit could trump them all
Astronomers Grapple with JWST’s Discovery of Early Galaxies
Researchers are convinced the James Webb Space Telescope has glimpsed an unexpected population of galaxies in the early universe. Now they’re trying to decide what this means for our understanding of the cosmos