Astrophysics
Astronomers See a Bizarre Space Circle in Unprecedented Detail
Researchers have sighted only a handful of these odd radio circles and are trying to pin down what causes them
Astrophysics1392 articles archived since 1845
Astrophysics
A Stunning Image Shows Stars Aligned for the James Webb Space Telescope
With its mirrors now focused, the observatory’s science instruments are now being readied for work
Astrophysics
Eugene Parker, Namesake of NASA’s Sun-Touching Spacecraft, Dies at Age 94
The eminent astrophysicist changed the way we view our home star
Astronomy
Record-Breaking Supernova Is Part of a New Class of Objects
A recently spotted bright light in the sky is improving astronomers’ understanding of stellar death
Astrophysics
ArXiv.org Reaches a Milestone and a Reckoning
Runaway success and underfunding have led to growing pains for the preprint server
Astrophysics
Astronomers Report a Monstrous Eruption from a Supermagnetic Star
In a fraction of a second, the outburst released as much energy as our sun produces in 100,000 years
Astrophysics
Hollywood Can Take On Science Denial: Don’t Look Up Is a Great Example
This new release uses a comet hurtling toward Earth to satirize the way we dismiss scientific facts and the scientists who discover them
Astrophysics
NASA Spacecraft ‘Touches’ the Sun for the First Time Ever
The Parker Solar Probe has passed through a boundary and into the Sun’s atmosphere, gathering data that will help scientists better understand stars
Astrophysics
NASA Launches IXPE, a New X-ray Space Telescope
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer will probe the physics behind black holes, neutron stars and other dynamic cosmic objects
Astrophysics
Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Are Finally Coming into Focus
Twenty years after their initial detection, enigmatic blasts from the sky are starting to deliver tentative answers, as well as plenty of science
Astrophysics
Astrophysicists Unveil Glut of Gravitational-Wave Detections
The latest bounty of 35 events features oddball black holes and a miniature neutron star
Astrophysics
Hunt for Alien Life Tops Next-Gen Wish List for U.S. Astronomy
A major report outlining the highest priorities and recommendations for U.S. astronomy has finally been released, revealing the shape of things to come
Astrophysics
The Solar System’s Mysterious Magnetic Fields
Most of our neighboring planets have magnetic fields, but scientists do not fully understand how they arise
Astrophysics
FAST, the World’s Largest Radio Telescope, Zooms in on a Furious Cosmic Source
China’s Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope has detected more than 1,600 fast radio bursts from a single enigmatic system
Astrophysics
The Physics and Hype of Hypersonic Weapons
These novel missiles cannot live up to the grand promises made on their behalf, aerodynamics shows
Astrophysics
Learning to Live in Steven Weinberg’s Pointless Universe
The late physicist’s most infamous statement still beguiles scientists and vexes believers
Astrophysics
Highest-Energy Particles Yet Arrive from Ancient Crab Nebula
Astronomers have observed record-breaking photons that strain classical theories of acceleration
Black Holes
Black Holes Swallow Neutron Stars in a Single Bite, New Results Suggest
At long last, the definitive discovery completes a trifecta of astrophysical events that were forecast by gravitational-wave astronomers
Astrophysics
Stars Made of Antimatter Might Be Lurking in the Universe
Circumstantial evidence could point to a mind-blowing solution to an antimatter mystery—or to the need for better space-based particle physics experiments
Black Holes
Death by Primordial Black Hole
If such an object a mere 1,000 times bigger than an atom passed through your body, the result would not be pretty
