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Prepping for a Flood of Heavenly Bodies

October 24, 2018

Mario Jurić is leading the push to get astronomy ready for the torrents of data that are about to flow.

Interstellar Visitor Found to Be Unlike a Comet or an Asteroid

October 10, 2018

The mystery of ’Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever observed, continues to deepen.

Planets Found to Be Larger Than the Disks They Come From

October 4, 2018

The new finding is challenging established theories of how planets come to be.

What Is the Sun Made Of and When Will It Die?

July 5, 2018

If and when physicists are able to pin down the metal content of the sun, that number could upend much of what we thought we knew about the evolution and life span of stars.

Why Can’t We Find Planet Nine?

July 3, 2018

Astronomers suspect that there’s a large planet hiding out in the distant fringes of the solar system. At a recent workshop, they brainstormed ways to coax it into view.

The Young Milky Way Collided With a Dwarf Galaxy

June 28, 2018

Astronomers have found stars dating from a long-ago collision between the Milky Way and another galaxy. The crash helps to explain why the Milky Way looks the way it does.

The Universe Is Not a Simulation, but We Can Now Simulate It

June 12, 2018

Computer simulations have become so accurate that cosmologists can now use them to study dark matter, supermassive black holes and other mysteries of the real evolving cosmos.

Victoria Meadows’ Earthly Visions of Alien Life

June 5, 2018

A living, breathing garden in Seattle serves as the perfect backdrop to an astrobiologist’s search for life on faraway planets.

Stellar Disks Reveal How Planets Get Made

May 21, 2018

Detailed images of disks swirling around young stars show the details of how solar systems come to be.

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