Fast radio burst art

Stellar Science

New Observations Add Fuel to Fast Radio Burst Origin Debate

A peculiar repeating fast radio burst seems to be coming from a dynamic environment in an otherwise uninteresting region, leaving researchers scratching their heads as to the burst’s origin.

a glowing orb with smaller dots of lights in various colors in it and around it against a black background

Galaxies

A Cosmic Collision Could Have Made Two Dark Matter–Less Galaxies

Astronomers connect the dots between two strange doppelganger galaxies, uncovering what might be a string of galactic pearls created in a cosmic collision 8 billion years ago.

Neptune-size exomoon around a giant planet (art)

Exoplanets

Needle in the Haystack: New Exomoon Candidate Found

Astronomers may have found a second Neptune-size exomoon hidden in the retired Kepler space telescope’s data.

Black hole in another galaxy (artist's illustration)

Black Holes

Did Astronomers Spot a Black Hole in Another Galaxy? Maybe Not

Astronomers might have spotted a stellar-mass black hole in another galaxy — but not everyone agrees with what they found.

Magnetar

Stellar Science

China’s FAST Observatory Sees More Than 1,000 Radio Bursts from a Single Spot

The largest haul of fast radio burst observations ever recorded, all from a single fast radio burst, is helping astronomers understand what causes these fleeting cosmic phenomena

Famous and Noteworthy Astronomers

George Carruthers: Telescope Maker and Lunar Pioneer

Astronomer and engineer George Carruthers (1939–2020) designed and built the first observatory on another world.

Famous and Noteworthy Astronomers

Benjamin Banneker: Self-taught Astronomer

The story of astronomer and polymath Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806) is one of dignity and ingenuity against the backdrop of slavery and racism.

Margaret Burbidge

People, Places, and Events

Celebrating Astronomer Margaret Burbidge, 1919–2020

The astronomer who taught us we are all made of stardust has passed away after celebrating her 100th birthday on August 12, 2019.

Perseus Cluster

Cosmology

Astronomers Rein in Possibilities for Exotic Particle

Astronomers observing a distant galaxy have dramatically shrunk the range of possible properties of a long-predicted — but never-detected — subatomic particle.

Pulsar squiggle

Famous and Noteworthy Astronomers

Jocelyn Bell Burnell: Pulsar Pioneer

In 1967, astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943–) discovered the first pulsars — cosmic lighthouses that now enable astrophysicists to probe extreme physics and test general relativity.

Rotation of Andromeda Galaxy

Galaxies

New Study Pushes Back Milky Way’s Dust-up with Andromeda

By tracing stars in other galaxies, the Gaia satellite has helped astronomers understand the relative motions of the Milky Way's galactic siblings.

Identifying the IceCube neutrino

Astronomy & Observing News

IceCube Neutrino Offers New Eyes on the Cosmos

A combination of neutrino detection and observations across the full spectrum of light has pinpointed a cosmic accelerator for the first time, revitalizing multi-messenger astronomy.

Black Holes

Physicist Proposes Alternative to Black Holes

A physicist has incorporated a quantum mechanical idea with general relativity to arrive at a new alternative to black hole singularities.

Dark matter vs. ordinary matter in IllustrisTNG

Cosmology

Simulating the Universe: The Next Generation

A new suite of cosmological simulations sheds light on the interconnected cosmic processes that shape the universe.

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