SUNSET: 
Have Astronomers Detected Exomoons At Last?
Have astronomers detected two giant exomoons? The answer depends on how convincing you deem newly presented results — and how you define a moon.
Radio Survey Maps Hundreds of Thousands of New Galaxies
The LOFAR survey, based in The Netherlands, has released a bonanza of new sources. And with only 2% of the sky covered so far, this is only the beginning.
Gravitational-Wave Observatories Bag Four Black-Hole Collisions
A re-analysis of data from LIGO and Virgo brings the number of gravitational-wave detections to 11, including the most distant and most powerful black-hole merger yet discovered.
“Fast Supernovae” Begin to Reveal Their Secrets
Astronomers have discovered 72 fast and furious explosions, possibly supernovae blasts cloaked in cocoons of ejected gas.
Primordial Chill Hints at Dark Matter Interactions in Early Universe
A simple experiment has detected a signal from the first stars forming just 180 million years after the Big Bang. The observations have intriguing implications for the nature of dark matter.
Orderly Dwarf Galaxies Challenge Cosmological Wisdom
Most of the dwarf galaxies around Centaurus A appear to be orbiting the giant galaxy along a single plane — a result not predicted by current cosmological models.
Dark Energy Survey Releases First Three Years of Data
Results from the first data release of the Dark Energy Survey include eleven new stellar streams in the Milky Way galaxy.
Astronomers Catch Gravitational Waves from Colliding Neutron Stars
Spacetime ripples from the neutron star smash-up usher in the age of multi-messenger astronomy.
Fourth Gravitational Wave Event Detected
Teaming up with LIGO, Europe’s Virgo detector has bagged its first gravitational waves. The three-observatory detection enabled scientists to better pinpoint the merging black holes’ location.
KAGRA: Japan’s Underground Einstein Wave Detector
On June 1, U.S. and European physicists published the latest results in their quest for gravitational waves — tiny ripples in spacetime, generated by energetic events like the collision and merger of distant black holes. Meanwhile, a new gravitational wave observatory is under construction in Japan. Sky & Telescope Contributing Editor Govert Schilling visited the KAGRA detector in 2016.
Homing in on the Source of a Mysterious Fast Radio Burst
Ground- and space-based observations have now shed intriguing new light on a mysterious radio source more than 3 billion light-years away.
Road Tripping Space: Visiting Meteorites in Africa
Traveling through space can be a bumpy ride! Join Govert Schilling on a scenic road trip across southern Africa filled with craters and meteorites.
Bright future for South African Astronomy
Govert Schilling chronicles his travels to astronomical observatories across South Africa, the future site of the Square Kilometre Array.
Hubble Spies Faint Galaxies, Bountiful in Early Universe
Hubble has spotted more than 100 small, faint galaxies in the young universe, common as dust bunnies but previously out of reach of even the best telescopes.
The Incredible Skies of Namibia
Explore two unique astronomical sites that lie under the dark skies of Namibia - the HESS high-energy array and the Africa Millimeter Telescope.
Not-So-Clumpy Dark Matter Poses Cosmological Challenge
Astronomers analyzing a new sky survey have found that the distribution of dark matter in the modern universe is smoother than predicted from observations of a far younger universe.
SOFIA Dashes into Pluto's Shadow
Despite an 11th-hour scramble due to an unexpected in predictions, NASA's flying observatory was in the right place at the right time on June 29th as distant Pluto briefly covered a 12th-magnitude star.
A Whirlwind South Pole Tour
S&T contributing editor Govert Schilling tells the story of his recent expedition to the unique science laboratory located at the inhospitable South Pole.
Radio Astronomy in the Aussie Outback
It's not easy to get to the Murchison Radio Observatory in Western Australia. Being in one of the most remote regions of the country means there's hardly any radio interference that might otherwise compromise the astronomical observations. It's one of the most radio-quiet zones on the planet.
Planet Hunters are Losing Count
The latest 500 planet candidates from the Kepler mission are just part of the story. But Terra II remains elusive.