Astronomy

Looming gaps in astronomers’ views of the heavens could undercut the revolutionary potential of NASA’s latest, greatest space telescope

Our galaxy’s enormous scaffolding is shaped by complex magnetic fields

The “mother of dark matter” was a force of nature—and a forceful advocate for other women who wanted to dedicate their career to the cosmos.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the next Earth-threatening asteroid

Vera Rubin went from a teenager with a cardboard telescope to the “mother of dark matter.” Some of her colleagues and mentees weigh in on her fascinating life and how she was a champion for women in astronomy.

A new study suggests that ‘Oumuamua, the mysterious visitor that whizzed through our solar system in 2017, may have been merely a small comet from another star

Before exploding as supernovae, massive Wolf-Rayet stars spew gas and dust into space, seeding the formation of future stellar and planetary systems

Collisions between moons and planets may be a regular danger for possible extraterrestrial life

We slammed a $330-million spaceship the size of a dairy cow into an asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Here’s what we’re learning about how our first step in planetary defense could save us in the future.

Booming exploration and commercial activity could ruin the quiet, astronomy-friendly environment of the lunar far side

Scientists may have spotted two pairs of merging dwarf galaxies, each pair with a duo of soon-to-collide black holes

A strange discovery could provide a window into the universe’s earliest galaxies