SUNSET: 
New View of Nearest Galaxies
Spectacular high-resolution images released at the 222nd American Astronomical Society conference in Indianapolis reveal two of the Milky Way’s nearest galactic neighbors in a new light.
The Mysterious Seven
Seven clouds of hydrogen dotting the space between two iconic galaxies might be crumbs from a past encounter or evidence for the elusive cosmic web theorized to fuel galaxy growth.
How to Build a Galaxy
The iconic disk galaxy is perhaps the most common type of galaxy in the universe. But how did these galaxies form their wide, thin skirts and fat, round centers?
The Most Distant Star Ever Seen?
Astronomers have detected what might be the farthest star ever spectroscopically observed. The bright object blazes in an unusual location, too, perhaps giving insight into star formation in unconventional environments.
Stellar Senior Citizen
Astronomers have confirmed that the star HD 140283 is nearly as old as the universe.
Culprit Pegged for Cosmic Rays
Astronomers working with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope say they might finally have the “smoking gun” they’ve needed to convict supernova remnants as the origin of energetic particles called cosmic rays.
Amateurs Help Hubble Unveil Spiral
Robert Gendler stitched together a stunning mosaic of spiral galaxy M106, filling in gaps in Hubble coverage with his own and Jay GaBany's ground-based observations.
Galactic Bubbles Spark Debate
New microwave and radio observations resurrect controversy over gigantic lobes seen ballooning from the Milky Way’s center.
Hubble Takes Galaxy Census
New observations by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.
A Big Black Hole in a Small Galactic Pond
A record-breaking black hole lurking at the center of a compact galaxy weighs about 17 billion Suns, a new study finds. Now astronomers are wondering: how did such a small galaxy come to harbor a leviathan?
Cosmic Web Weeds Dwarf Galaxies
Astronomers have discovered an unexpected explanation for why they can only find a small fraction of the satellite galaxies the Milky Way is supposed to have.
Hubble Goes Deep — eXtremely Deep
The Hubble Space Telescope's newest deep space image reveals 5,500 galaxies in a tiny, dark patch of sky in the constellation Fornax.
Milky Way Blew Bubbles
A careful analysis of Planck observations shows that there really is a mysterious haze emanating from the Milky Way’s core, mission team members say.
Universe is Still Missing its Lithium
New observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud have only heightened the mystery surrounding a decades-long cosmic conundrum: why does the universe have so much less lithium than astronomers think it should?
Galaxy Family Portrait
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped a family portrait of a pair of galaxies in the nearby Virgo galaxy, where a huge elliptical galaxy dwarfs its spiral sibling.
Milky Way's Black Hole Once Active
Evidence continues to mount that our galaxy's supermassive black hole was not always the quiet neighbor it is now.
New Heavyweight Galaxy Cluster
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive galaxy cluster that both meets and challenges expectations for how clusters ought to behave.
Star-Shredder's Brief Pulse
A supermassive black hole spotted last year as it ripped a star apart and spat out a jet had another surprise up its sleeve: a short-lived X-ray heartbeat seen only once before from a galaxy’s central beast.
Galaxy Zoo's Odd Black Holes
Citizen scientists are helping astronomers understand how galaxies and their resident supermassive black holes grow.
Black Holes Might Form Like Planets
Astronomers have plenty of evidence for small and large black holes, but have had little luck tracking down the mid-sized variety. One team of researchers suggests the search has been focused on the wrong places all along.
