Search Results

Some nebulae emit their own light, some reflect the light from stars around them, and some only absorb light. But that’s just the beginning.

We see objects whose light only arrives just now. But we see them as they were in the past: when that now-arriving light was first emitted.

One of the most promising dark matter candidates is light particles, like axions. With JWST, we can rule out many of those options already.

The Universe has been creating stars for nearly all 13.8 billion years of its history. But those photons can’t match the Big Bang’s light.

Is gravity weaker over distances of billions of light-years?

The Lyman-α emission line has never been seen earlier than 550 million years after the Big Bang. So why does JADES-GS-z13-1-LA have one?

Perhaps the most well-known equation in all of physics is Einstein’s E = mc². Does mass or energy increase, then, near the speed of light?

Just 13.8 billion years after the hot Big Bang, we can see objects up to 46.1 billion light-years away. No, this doesn’t violate relativity.

In all the Universe, only a few particles are eternally stable. The photon, the quantum of light, has an infinite lifetime. Or does it?

During the industrial era the cost of artificial light fell off a cliff — and the road to illumination was paved with ingenuity and slaughter.

Yes, the Universe is expanding, but if you’ve ever wondered, “How fast is it expanding,” the answer isn’t in terms of a speed at all.

In all the Universe, only a few particles are eternally stable. The photon, the quantum of light, has an infinite lifetime. Or does it?

Dark matter doesn’t absorb or emit light, but it gravitates. Instead of something exotic and novel, could it just be dark, normal matter?

Most waves need a medium to travel through. But the way that light and gravitational waves travel shows that space can’t be a medium at all.

Rocks and minerals don’t simply reflect light. They play with it and interact with light as both a wave and a particle.

The ultimate multi-messenger astronomy event would have gravitational waves, particles, and light arriving all at once. Did that just occur?

Photons come in every wavelength you can imagine. But one particular quantum transition makes light at precisely 21 cm, and it’s magical.

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will have a light-collecting power 10 times greater than today’s best telescope.

Just 165,000 light-years away, the Large Magellanic Cloud is suspected to house a supermassive black hole. At last, evidence has arrived.

Just 460 light-years away, the closest newborn protostars are forming in the Taurus molecular cloud. Here are JWST’s astonishing insights.

A simple dice game shines a bit of light on the psychology of regret.

Northern lights in the American South, clusters of huge geomagnetic storms—the Sun is throwing a tantrum right on schedule.

Studying why innovation clusters form can shed light on how to better promote research and growth.

With the discovery of Porphyrion, we’ve now seen black hole jets spanning 24 million light-years: the scale of the cosmic web.

By focusing on the role of human experience, we may uncover new insights on the fundamental structure of reality.

Scientists are searching for dark matter particles that are trillions or even quadrillion times lighter than the more traditional searches. 

Without wormholes, warp drive, or some type of new matter, energy, or physics, everyone is limited by the speed of light. Or are they?

When we see pictures from Hubble or JWST, they show the Universe in a series of brilliant colors. But what do those colors really tell us?

With LEDs bringing brighter nighttime lighting than ever before, and thousands of new satellites polluting the skies, astronomy needs help.

The discovery of ultra-bright, ultra-distant galaxies was JWST’s first big surprise. They didn’t “break the Universe,” and now we know why.