Astrophysics

Astrophysics

a computer generated image of a speaker and a box.
How are we to deal with the quantization of spacetime and gravity?
Hubble view of galaxy containing GRB 221009A BOAT
The brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed, GRB 221009A behaved in unexpected ways that might help us understand how they occur.
globular cluster terzan 5
Sun-like stars live for around 10 billion years, but our Universe is only 13.8 billion years old. So what's the maximum lifetime for a star?
a blue circle surrounded by red lines on a white background.
Neuroscientist and author Bobby Azarian explores the idea that the Universe is a self-organizing system that evolves and learns.
NGC 1277 red and dead
With hundreds of billions of stars burning bright, some galaxies are already dead. Their inhabitants might not know it, but we're certain.
an image of a black hole in the sky.
There are 40 billion billion black holes in the universe. Here’s how our Solar System stacks up against ten of them.
a close up of the sun with a black background.
We don't know what causes Miyake events, but these great surges of energy can help us understand the past — while posing a threat to our future.
a picture of a mountain with a blue circle in the middle.
Exoplanet LP 791-18d is likely to have an atmosphere and liquid water.
warm-hot intergalactic medium sculptor wall
Just by observing the tiny amount of deuterium left over from the Big Bang, we can determine that dark matter and dark energy must exist.
a computer generated image of a wave
There is no such thing as a void in the Universe.
Artist’s impression of a gamma-ray burst
Gamma-ray bursts are so powerful they could vaporize the Earth from 200 light-years away. Recreating them in the lab is not easy.
JADES deep image
Hubble showed us what our modern day Universe looks like. JWST's big goal was to teach us how the Universe grew up. Here's where we are now.
Loneliest galaxy MCG+01–02–015
With no other galaxies in its vicinity for ~100 million light-years in all directions, it's as isolated and lonely as a galaxy can be.
Two breathtaking pictures of a galaxy and a star taken by the Hubble telescope, highlighting the beauty and cosmic magnitude that fuels the Hubble tension.
There are two methods to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. The results do not agree with each other, and this is a big problem.
black hole emission radiation
In 1974, Hawking showed that black holes aren't stable, but emit radiation and decay. Nearly 50 years later, it isn't just for black holes.
warp field stars
The concept of ‘relativistic mass’ has been around almost as long as relativity has. But is it a reasonable way to make sense of things?
Photo of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion
Memorial day is a time to remember veterans killed in the line of service. These spaceflight heroes deserve to be remembered, too.
an image of a colorful object with a black background.
Particle physicists use gigantic accelerators to investigate the infinitesimal.
big bang expanding universe
It's been 100 years since we discovered that the Universe was expanding. But if it's expanding, then what is it expanding into?
multiverse
If our Universe were born a little differently, there wouldn't have been any planets, stars, galaxies, or chemically interesting reactions.
a black and white photo of stars in the sky.
Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness. 
a painting of a green and a blue planet.
"Superhabitable" planets might be real, but Earth is probably as good as it gets.
a futuristic living room with a large round window.
Does humanity have a moral imperative to seed life on lifeless worlds? And should we avoid colonizing a planet if life already exists there?
ivy mike nuclear test
Einstein's most famous equation is E = mc², which describes the rest mass energy inherent to particles. But motion matters for energy, too.
Fomalhaut debris system ALMA Keck JWST
A surprising JWST discovery around Fomalhaut has a different, superior explanation: not a great dust cloud, but a mere background object.
jupiter
The classic picture of Jupiter's great rocky core might be entirely wrong.
epsilon eridani comet storm
Massive objects like black holes, stars, and rogue planets routinely pass near our Solar System. An ensuing comet storm could destroy us.
asteroid deliver organics to Earth
When the Universe was first born, the ingredients necessary for life were nowhere to be found. Only our "lucky stars" enabled our existence.