Astrophysics

Astrophysics

JWST vs Hubble deep field
With infrared capabilities and image sharpness far beyond Hubble's limits, JWST looked at Hubble's deepest field, revealing so much more.
a black hole in the center of a space filled with stars.
Though he renounced philosophy, Stephen Hawking's final theory of the universe redraws the basic foundations of cosmology.
infinity
The Universe is grand, awe-inspiring, and greater than we likely imagine. Even astrophysicists get anxious thinking about it, but we cope.
quantum superposition
With a massive, charged nucleus orbited by tiny electrons, atoms are such simple objects. Miraculously, they make up everything we know.
einstein quote imagination knowledge
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" is often taken to mean that your conceptions outweigh what's real. That's not what he said.
a very large cluster of stars in the sky.
Stars orbiting black holes were observed to move significantly slower than expected. One explanation centers on dark matter.
Uranus 1986 Voyager 2 2023 JWST
Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in 1986, finding a bland, featureless world. Now, in 2023, JWST's sights are similar. There's a reason for that.
two colliding white dwarfs trigger a type Ia supernova
When white dwarfs explode, they create a type Ia supernovae. After decades of following the leading theory, here's the complete overhaul!
lightning over Bristol talkie_tim
From up close, the cracking sound of a thunderclap dominates. From far away, it's more like a drawn-out rumble. Can science explain why?
Millikan Lemaitre and Einstein
Einstein called his idea "abominable," but the world of physics came around to embracing the views of Georges Lemaître.
wormholes
Leading a scientific revolution is easy: you just have to succeed where the current theory fails while equaling its successes. Good luck!
full circle rainbow ring optics physics
Most of us only ever see a fraction of a full rainbow: an arc. But optically, a full rainbow makes a complete circle. Physics explains why.
map of earth eclipse path April 8 2024
The next solar eclipse to occur over heavily populated areas is on April 8, 2024. For a spectacular show; here's where the best views are!
a very large spiral shaped object in the sky.
Finding this missing piece of water’s path through the universe offers clues to how it came to be on Earth.
inflation spawn parallel universes
Our huge, expanding Universe may truly be infinite. But if the set of possible quantum outcomes is also infinite, which "infinity" wins?
a group of open doors in front of a blue sky.
The multiverse is an idea that has gained a lot of traction in popular culture. But what does science have to say about it?
cosmic epochs lookback hubble 13.8 billion
With a finite 13.8 billion years having passed since the Big Bang, there's an edge to what we can see: the cosmic horizon. What's it like?
Hubble view of galaxy containing GRB 221009A BOAT
Gamma-ray bursts are among the most energetic cosmic events of all. On October 9, 2022, a remarkable one occurred: the brightest ever seen.
a blurry photo of a city street at night.
Time gets a little strange as you approach the speed of light.
an astronaut contemplates a black hole
That scary swirling void from which nothing can escape is our perfect universal translation tool.
JWST CEERS 1 hour field
Many galaxies really are ultra-distant, but some are just intrinsically red or dusty. Only with spectroscopy can JWST tell which is which.
mauritius reunion ISS earth night
Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all uni-plate planets, and may always have been. Here's what's known about why Earth, uniquely, has plate tectonics.
a star burst in the middle of the night sky.
We are about to learn a lot more about the most elusive of cosmic particles.
uap ufo UAPs UFOs
Lots of people have seen lots of bizarre events and phenomena that defy our conventional experience. But is there a scientific explanation?
the sun is setting over the ocean on a cloudy day.
Temperatures in the Sun's core exceed 10 million degrees Celsius. But how on Earth did we actually come to know that?
inside of xenon
With a bigger, better, and more sensitive detector, the XENON collaboration joins LZ and PANDA-X in constraining WIMP dark matter.
photon paths around black hole
What do we mean by a black hole's size? A photon sphere? The minimal stable orbit? The event horizon? The singularity? Which one is right?
runaway supermassive black hole
Speeding through the Universe and leaving a wake of new stars, this runaway supermassive black hole is likely the first among thousands.