Astrophysics
Gravitational-Wave Search Resumes after Three Years and Lots of Headaches
Researchers still hope to discover hundreds of new binary black hole mergers despite technical setbacks that have sidelined key detectors in Italy and Japan
Astrophysics1357 articles archived since 1845
Astrophysics
Six Gravitational-Wave Breakthroughs Scientists Can’t Wait to See
After years of downtime for upgrades, the world’s premier gravitational-wave observatories are coming back online with big hopes for transformative discoveries
Astrophysics
Largest-Ever Cosmic Explosion Has Raged for Years
For at least three years, the mysterious blast has shined 10 times brighter than any supernova
Astrophysics
Is Time Travel Even Possible?
Two SciAm editors duke it out to see if wormholes and multiverses could in fact exist.
Public Health
Astronomy Tool Can Now Detect COVID in Breath
Laser-based optical frequency combs, originally developed to time atomic clocks, can also perform fast, noninvasive tests for COVID—and potentially other diseases as well
Astrophysics
Astronomers Just Saw a Star Eat a Planet for the First Time
A dying star swallowing a giant planet hints at the fate awaiting our solar system some five billion years from now
Astrophysics
Is Time Travel Possible?
The laws of physics allow time travel. So why haven’t people become chronological hoppers?
Weather
Northern Lights Dance across U.S. because of ‘Stealthy’ Sun Eruptions
A severe geomagnetic storm created auroras that were visible as far south as Arizona in the U.S.
Astrophysics
Astronomers Spy a Giant Runaway Black Hole’s Starry Wake
A candidate “rogue” supermassive black hole may weigh as much as 20 million suns and has sparked a trail of star formation that is 200,000 light-years long
Dark Matter
Vera Rubin Lives On in Lives of the Women She Helped in Astronomy
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.
Astrophysics
Recent Gamma-Ray Burst May Be the Brightest Ever Seen
The “absolutely monstrous” cosmic blast is estimated to be a one-in-10,000-year event
Extraterrestrial Life
Scientists Try to Get Serious about Studying UFOs. Good Luck with That
New dedicated observatories and crowdsourced smartphone apps will study strange sightings in the sky. But questionable data quality and a lack of shared research standards remain key challenges...
Astrophysics
Weird Supernova Remnant Blows Scientists’ Minds
Fireworks display from rare dying star is unlike anything astronomers have seen
Astronomy
Satellite Constellations Are an Existential Threat for Astronomy
Growing swarms of spacecraft in orbit are outshining the stars, and scientists fear no one will do anything to stop it
Astrophysics
Should You Really Worry about Solar Flares?
The sun is unleashing powerful outbursts that could strike Earth, but these events are far more common—and much less worrisome—than some hyped headlines suggest
Astrophysics
All the Gold in the Universe Was (Likely) Created This Way
For a long time, no one knew how “heavy metals” formed—or showed up on Earth. Now some new evidence finally points the way to an answer.
Astronomy
The Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Ever Recorded Rattled Earth’s Atmosphere
The death of a massive star far across the universe affected lightning on our planet and could teach us about the Milky Way
Astrophysics
Einstein’s Greatest Theory Just Passed Its Most Rigorous Test Yet
The MICROSCOPE mission tested the weak equivalence principle with free-falling objects in a satellite
Astrophysics
Understanding the Inner Workings of Stars [Sponsored]
Conny Aerts is an astrophysicist and a pioneer of asteroseismology. This year she shared the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics for her research and leadership that has laid the foundations of solar and stellar structure theory, and revolutionized our understanding of the interiors of stars...
Astrophysics
Astronomers Reveal New Details of How Stars Devour Planets
Surprisingly, some worlds can survive being engulfed by a sunlike star when it swells to become a red giant
