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The Hidden Magnetic Universe Begins to Come Into View
Astronomers are discovering that magnetic fields permeate much of the cosmos. If these fields date back to the Big Bang, they could solve a major cosmological mystery.
A Surprise Discovery Points to the Source of Fast Radio Bursts
After a burst lit up their telescope “like a Christmas tree,” astronomers were able to finally track down the source of these cosmic oddities.
Why Are Black Holes So Bright?
And why is the black hole at the center of our own galaxy so dim?
New Wrinkle Added to Cosmology’s Hubble Crisis
A problem confronts cosmology: Two independent measurements of the universe’s expansion give incompatible answers. Now a third method, advanced by an astronomy pioneer, appears to bridge the divide.
New Exoplanet Search Strategy Claims First Discovery
By watching for a special kind of flare, astronomers have identified the fingerprints of an Earth-size planet orbiting a distant star.
The Age of Interstellar Visitors
As astronomers get better at finding the comets and asteroids of other stars, they’ll learn more about the universe and our place in it.
Are Saturn’s Rings Really as Young as the Dinosaurs?
A surprisingly youthful estimate of the age of the rings has stirred a backlash.
Virginia Trimble Has Seen the Stars
How a young celebrity became one of the first female astronomers at Caltech, befriended Richard Feynman, and ended up the world’s foremost chronicler of the science of the night sky.
Physics Nobel Honors Early Universe and Exoplanet Discoveries
The astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz won half of the prize for their 1995 discovery of a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a nearby star. The cosmologist James Peebles won the other half for work exploring the structure of the universe.