Astrophysics

Astrophysics

astrophysics ALMA
If you want to understand what the Universe is, how it began, evolved, and will eventually end, astrophysics is the only way to go.
how many planets
In 1990, we only knew of the ones in our Solar System. Today, we know of thousands, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The moon in the night sky.
On December 19 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt and Ronald Evans splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the Apollo 17 lunar mission. They were the last people to travel […]
biomining
Coupled with 3D printing, biomining the Moon or Mars with microbes could sustain human colonies without constant re-supply from Earth.
TOI-2257 b
The search for worlds outside our solar system has just turned up a planet, TOI-2257 b, with a truly extreme orbit.
universe temperature
We frequently say it's 2.725 K: from the light left over all the way from the Big Bang. But that's not all that's in the Universe.
james webb
The James Webb Space Telescope finally could answer the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe.
redshift distance raisin bread
There are two fundamentally different ways of measuring the Universe's expansion. They disagree. "Early dark energy" might save us.
supernova X-ray
The first supernova ever discovered through its X-rays has an enormously powerful engine at its core. It's unlike anything ever seen.
Earth move
The Solar System isn't a vortex, but rather the sum of all our great cosmic motions. Here's how we move through space.
Some stars burn through their fuel as expected, and die of natural causes. But others, instead, get murdered. Here's their story.
space missions
Space missions in 2022 will include massive rockets and asteroid collisions. This is also the year space tourism starts to hit its stride.
MIT rover
A levitating vehicle might someday explore the moon, asteroids, and other airless planetary surfaces.
Breakthrough Starshot
With advanced laser technology and an appropriate sail, we could accelerate objects to ~20% the speed of light. But would they survive?
CERN_ATLAS_Detector The standard model in physics
New technology is helping physicists move forward in the search for the Theory of Everything.
ergodicity
In movies and TV shows, aliens look like pointy-eared humans. Is this realistic? If evolution is predictable, then it very well might be.
Friedmann equation
From before the Big Bang to the present day, the Universe goes through many eras. Dark energy heralds the final one.
primordial black holes
Known as primordial black holes, they could thoroughly change our Universe's history. But the evidence is strongly against them.
launch James Webb
For many, it was just a successful launch like any other. But for scientists around the globe, it was a victory few dared to imagine.
mars water
Water on Mars is key for human survival on the Red Planet, not just for drinking but for growing food and making fuel and oxygen.
earth axis move throughout year axial tilt
Even with leap years and long-term planning, our calendar won't be good forever. Here's why, and how to fix it.
multiverse a fortunate universe
A wild, compelling idea without a direct, practical test, the Multiverse is highly controversial. But its supporting pillars sure are stable.
hot big bang
We know it couldn't have began from a singularity. So how small could it have been at the absolute minimum?
photometry
The photometric filters for the Vera Rubin Observatory are complete and showcase why they are indispensable for astronomy.
Caption:An illustration of a red dwarf star orbited by an exoplanet.
The boiling new world, which zips around its star at ultraclose range, is among the lightest exoplanets found to date.
space sex
Whether NASA likes it or not, humans eventually will be having space sex.
first contact
Life arose on Earth very early on. After a few billion years, here we are: intelligent and technologically advanced. Where's everyone else?
Parker Solar Probe
How can you "touch the Sun" if you've always been inside the solar corona, yet will never reach the Sun's photosphere?
expanding universe
Astrophysicists once believed in a static Universe, containing only the Milky Way galaxy. Science definitively proved otherwise.
Newly discovered planet is relatively close to its star.
A newly discovered “ultrahot Jupiter” has the shortest orbit of any known gas giant.