What's up in
telescopes
Quantized Columns
How Radio Astronomy Reveals the Universe
Radio waves, longer and less energetic than visible light, give astronomers access to some of the most obscure physics in the cosmos.
Quantized Columns
Social Distancing From the Stars
Professional astronomers may not point their telescopes by hand anymore, but COVID-19 has still closed observatories and impeded research.
astrophysics
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.
Quantized Columns
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.
Abstractions blog
A Close Look at Newborn Planets Reveals Hints of Infant Moons
Astronomers have discovered a complex planetary system still swirling into existence.
Abstractions blog
As Planet Discoveries Pile Up, a Gap Appears in the Pattern
Astronomers are puzzling over a paucity of planets in the galaxy measuring between 1.5 and two times Earth’s size.
Q&A
The Astronomer Who’d Rather Build Space Cameras
Jim Gunn shaped the theory of the evolution of the cosmos before building cameras and spectrographs for major observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope.
Quantized Columns
What the Sight of a Black Hole Means to a Black Hole Physicist
The astrophysicist Janna Levin reflects on the newly unveiled, first-ever photograph of a black hole.
Q&A
The Scientist Who Cooks Up the Skies of Faraway Worlds
Astronomers will soon take their first glance at the atmosphere of a distant exoplanet. Sarah Hörst is writing the guidebook for these exoplanetary explorers, one that will reveal what a distinctive atmosphere says about the world underneath.