Space & Physics
Comet Dust Kicks Up Clouds over the Moon
The same particles that streak through Earth's atmosphere as "shooting stars" kick up lunar dust when they strike the surface of the atmosphere-less moon. Christopher Intagliata reports...
Astrophysics1392 articles archived since 1845
Space & Physics
Dark Matter Particles Interact with Themselves
This never-before-seen phenomenon could help explain what comprises dark matter
Space & Physics
Frenzy-Feeding Black Hole Makes Galaxy Most Luminous
A galaxy 12.5 billion light-years away gives off the light of 300 trillion suns, because its feeding black hole produces enough heat to set the whole galaxy's dust glowing. Lee Billings reports ...
The Sciences
Take a Bite out of the Math of Math
Mathematician Eugenia Cheng, tenured in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. and currently Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago talks about her new book How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics ...
Space & Physics
Galaxy Crashes May Give Birth to Powerful Space Jets
Explosive geysers of material that shoot away from black holes at nearly the speed of light seem to form more often in galaxies that are the product of two galaxies merging together
Space & Physics
On Mauna Kea, Astronomers and Hawaiians Can Share the Skies
The Thirty Meter Telescope can revolutionize astronomy and become a part of the holy mountain’s rich cultural heritage
Black Hole "Blazars" Reveal Hidden Side of the Universe [Video]
The bright lights from these hungry black holes revealed a subtle background field
Space & Physics
How Astronomers Discovered the Universe's Hidden Light
Galaxies in every corner of the universe have been sending out photons, or light particles, since nearly the beginning of time. Astronomers are now beginning to read this extragalactic background light...
Black Holes
Giant Black Holes May Be on a Collision Course
Astronomers have found what may be two supermassive black holes in a quasar due to become one in roughly 21 years
Space & Physics
Just Another Cloudy Morning on a Hot Exoplanet
Astronomers use Kepler telescope to study weather on Jupiter-size planets beyond our solar system
Gerard Kuiper's Daring Rescue of Max Planck at the End of World War II
Seventy years ago the renowned astronomer undertook a daring rescue of the renowned physicist as the Red Army swept across a defeated Germany.
Physics Week in Review: May 16, 2015
The first results from the upgraded Large Hadron Collider, syntactic foam, a Fibonacci clock, and a worm with a fractal nose glove are among this week's highlights.
Space & Physics
Salty, Alkaline Curtains are Erupting from Enceladus – and That’s Good
Two new studies hint at a richer picture of what’s happening on Saturn’s extraordinary icy moon Enceladus. At about 500 kilometers in diameter, Enceladus is a diminutive natural satellite...
The Sciences
Mississippi Mound Builders Meet the 33rd Legion
Astronomer Alan Smale spends his days at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center exploring celestial objects, but he's also the author of Clash of Eagles, an alternate-history novel in which a Roman Legion invades North America ...
Space & Physics
Galactic Signal Boosts LHC's Dark Matter Search
High-energy photons from the Milky Way’s core suggest dark matter may soon be found by the world's most powerful particle accelerator
Space & Physics
Zooniverse: Planet 4
Help planetary scientists identify and measure features on the Martian surface while also helping improve the design of future Zooniverse projects
Space & Physics
Space Supervoid Sucks Energy from Light
A vast region of space colder than expected is also largely devoid of galaxies, and the two observations are no coincidence. Clara Moskowitz reports
Space & Physics
Astronomers Seek Super-Size Hubble Successor to Search for Alien Life
Controversy swirls around a bold proposal for a bigger, better—and expensive—replacement for NASA’s premier space telescope
Mind & Brain
Star Wars Day: May the Fourth Be with You
16-year-old Paul Vermeesch recreate the impossible structures in M.C. Escher's Relativity--but with a Star Wars theme--in LEGO.
MESSENGER’s Mercurial Swan Song and Other Interplanetary Smash-Ups
On April 30, if all goes well, after running out of fuel to fight off orbital decay NASA’s long-running MESSENGER spacecraft will end its mission to Mercury by crashing into the planet’s surface at nearly 4 kilometers per second...
