Space & Astrophysics
Perhaps no existential question looms larger than that of our ultimate cosmic origins. At long last, science has provided the answers.
The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, was originally seen as a colossal mistake. This one image, taken in 1995, changed everything.
Planets can create nuclear power on their own, naturally, without any intelligence or technology. Earth already did: 1.7 billion years ago.
The most famous Hubble images show glittering stars and galaxies amidst the black backdrop of space. But more was captured than we realized.
25 years ago, our concordance picture of cosmology, also known as ΛCDM, came into focus. 25 years later, are we about to break that model?
In around 7 billion years, we expect the Sun to run out of fuel, dying in a planetary nebula/white dwarf combination. Is that for certain?
Exoplanets can exist anywhere around their parent stars, even so close that they evaporate or disintegrate. Even the rocky ones.
It’s difficult to project a sphere onto a flat, two-dimensional surface. All maps of the Earth have flaws; the same is true for the cosmos.
The Kalam cosmological argument asserts that everything that exists must have a cause, and the “first” cause must be God. Is that valid?
We understand many things about our Universe, and our home within it, extremely well. The number of stars in the Milky Way isn’t among them.
Common knowledge says the maximum size of a PDF is as big as 40% of Germany — but that’s a gross underestimate.
The Multiverse isn’t just a staple of science fiction; there’s real-life science behind it, too. Here are 10 facts to expand your mind.
Large, massive, rotating galaxies like the Milky Way are common today. So how could one form a mere ~2 billion years after the Big Bang?
Over a century after we first unlocked the secrets of the quantum universe, people find it more puzzling than ever. Can we make sense of it?
For centuries, even after we knew the Sun was a star like any other, we still didn’t know what it was made of. Cecilia Payne changed that.
DESI, by mapping galaxies, has claimed they see evidence for dark energy evolving by getting weaker. But that’s only one interpretation.
Even from a single pixel, multiwavelength data taken over time can reveal clouds, icecaps, oceans, continents, and even signs of life.
Someday, we’ll look back and see a young galaxy forming stars for the first time. JADES-GS-z14-0, the farthest ever, isn’t early enough.
Einstein’s general relativity has reigned supreme as our theory of gravity for over a century. Could we reduce it back down to Newton’s law?
Our scientific instruments are constantly improving, revealing nature’s workings as never before. Without them, we’ll remain in the dark.
All scientific theories are limited in scope, power, and application, being mere approximations of reality. That’s why consensus is vital.
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.
When we see spiral galaxies, some are face-on, others are edge-on, but most are tipped at an angle. But which side is closest to us?
The tiniest galaxies of all are the most susceptible to violence by their larger, bullying siblings. That’s why we need them in isolation.
The Universe is expanding, and individual, bound structures are all receding away from one another. How, then, are galaxies still colliding?
Barnard’s star, the closest singlet star system to ours, has long been a target for planet-hunters. We’ve finally confirmed it: they exist!
Back in 1970, Sister Mary Jucunda wrote NASA, decrying large investments in science. A former Nazi’s legendary response is still relevant.
Since the dawn of history, humans have pondered our ultimate cosmic origins. Now in the 21st century, science has gone beyond the Big Bang.
Just 165,000 light-years away, the Large Magellanic Cloud is suspected to house a supermassive black hole. At last, evidence has arrived.
Fears of celestial collisions — and calculations of their likelihood — go back to the very origins of modern science itself.