The universe

Latest about The universe

8 of the greatest mysteries in the universe

By Robert Lea last updated

Dark energy, supermassive black holes, JuMBOs … Oh my!

The Universe
A false-color satellite image by Planet Labs shows the Palisades Fire consumed coastal neighborhoods. Land covered in vegetation is seen in red.

Devastation of raging Los Angeles fires visible from space in satellite images

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Satellite images show destruction caused by huge, fast-moving fires raging this week in Southern California.

Climate Change
An illustration shows a star escaping consumption by a black hole as its binary partner is devoured

Star escapes ravenous supermassive black hole, leaving behind its stellar partner

By Robert Lea published

Scientists want to know if a tidal disruption event that exploded twice is the result of a star abandoning its binary partner, allowing it to be devoured by a supermassive black hole.

Black Holes

NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory back online after 2024 data center flood

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

The spacecraft themselves continued to operate normally in Earth orbit during the outage and "no science data has been lost."

The Sun
An illustration of a white dwarf star stripping stellar material from a companion star

The fastest-spinning 'vampire star' we know of is shrinking. Soon, it will explode

By Robert Lea published

The fastest-spinning white dwarf ever discovered is a shrinking cosmic vampire feasting on a stellar companion. A feeding process is pushing the dead star toward an imminent supernova explosion.

Stars

Arecibo Observatory: The rise, legacy, and tragic collapse of a giant

By Vicky Stein last updated

Reference The legacy of Arecibo's nearly 60 years of astronomy research is strong, even after its loss in a dramatic 2020 collapse.

Reference
A tan, gaseious Jupiter hangs in black space, layered like a cross section of geological survey, a swirling red storm at its lower left.

An amateur astronomer used an old technique to study Jupiter — and found something strange

By Victoria Corless published

The long-held assumption that Jupiter's iconic swirling clouds are made of frozen ammonia could be upended.

Jupiter
Astronauts watch giant spider cranes 3d-print landing pads on the moon.

Humans will soon be able to mine on the moon. But should we? 4 questions to consider

By Evie Kendal, Alan Duffy published

By the end of this decade, nations and private companies may well be mining the surface of the Moon.

The moon
Two domes and one under construction are connect by short tubes on the grey surface of the moon. Neighboring the their upper left, two additional domes, like mounds covered with moon dust, and rows of solar panels on the right. Above in the black sky, Earth hangs upper left.

Food grows better on the moon than on Mars, scientists find

By Tom Brown published

Scientists expect the moon to have better soil for growing food than the red planet

Mars
a gas giant striped in different shades of red dominates the left half of the image, hanging in black space. in the top right, a fainter twinkling star with short rays jetting out in several directions.

Giant super-Jupiter planets could have very chaotic pasts

By Kiona N. Smith published

When two giant planets collide, an even bigger world may be born.

Exoplanets
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