Astrophysics

Astrophysics

A Carrington-magnitude event would kill millions, and cause trillions of dollars in damage. Sadly, it isn't even the worst-case scenario.
Compared to Earth, Mars is small, cold, dry, and lifeless. But 3.4 billion years ago, a killer asteroid caused a Martian megatsunami.
antimatter
The answer to this question is key to understanding why anything exists.
black hole central singularity
We'll never be able to extract any information about what's inside a black hole's event horizon. Here's why a singularity is inevitable.
We have less time than you might think.
By studying the dwarf galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte ~3 million light-years away, JWST reveals the Universe's star-forming history firsthand.
singularity
We confidently state that the Universe is known to be 13.8 billion years old, with an uncertainty of just 1%. Here's how we know.
Every time our Universe cools below a critical threshold, we fall out of equilibrium. That's the best thing that ever happened to us.
black hole
The strongest tests of curved space are only possible around the lowest-mass black holes of all. Their small event horizons are the key.
every square degree
The Universe is 13.8 billion years old, going back to the hot Big Bang. But was that truly the beginning, and is that truly its age?
artemis
It is humanity's biggest step yet into the Solar System.
SpinLaunch will cleverly attempt to reach space with minimal rocket fuel. But will physics prevent a full-scale version from succeeding?
earth
We cannot afford to dream about living on other worlds while we continue to destroy ours.
moon base
From astrobiology to geology, a Moon base could serve as a laboratory unlike anything on Earth.
At 1,600 light years away, the black hole is practically in our cosmic backyard.
It's rare that one single image packs so much beauty and science simultaneously. This Hubble view of a nearby star-forming region has both.
cosmic ray blazar
Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies gobble up whatever matter ventures too close, becoming active. Here's how they work.
ideal night sy conditions
We're used to scientists telling us about the math and physics behind astronomical events. But what does studying space make us feel?
time
You are trapped in time. You never live in the world as it is but only as you experience it as it was.
Astronomers have been looking for radio waves sent by a distant civilization for more than 60 years.
All across the Universe, planets come in a wide variety of sizes, masses, compositions, and temperatures. And most have rain and snow.
gaia black hole
The ESA's Gaia mission just broke the record for closest black hole by over 1,000 light-years. Is there an even closer one out there?
IceCube just found an active galaxy in the nearby Universe, 47 million light-years away, through its neutrino emissions: a cosmic first.
good night oppy
Thanks to a couple of rovers, we know Mars was once blue.
hubble tension
We know the Universe is expanding, but scientists don't agree on the rate. This is a legitimate problem.
Hawking radiation incorrect
In 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that even black holes don't live forever, but emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Here's how.
In 1995, Hubble peered at the Pillars of Creation, forever changing our view. Now in 2022, JWST completes the star-forming puzzle.