Stories by Caleb Scharf

Alone in a Crowded Milky Way

Even a galaxy teeming with star-hopping alien civilizations should still harbor isolated, unvisited worlds—and Earth might be among them

Guess the Rain's down on Titan

Archival Cassini images reveal a glinting surface and a seasonal property

A Fantastic Journey through Cosmic Scales

A new, epic voyage through all known scales of reality charts the outer limits of existence, from the edge of the observable universe to the subatomic realm

Eclipse: It's All about the Umbra

What makes a total solar eclipse seem so strange and awe-inspiring?

Astronomers Measure How Fast a Supermassive Black Hole Is Spinning

To do so, they looked to a second black hole orbiting the first

Cassini Reveals That Enceladus Is Embraced by a Web of Cracks

The Cassini mission's third-from-last flyby of the icy moon Enceladus reveals that a highly complex network of thin cracks covering the surface extend all the way into the northern polar region...

Is Earth's Life Unique in the Universe?

To know whether life exists beyond Earth, we must come to terms with our own significance in the universe. Are we uniquely special or merely mediocre?

How Black Holes Shape the Galaxies, Stars and Planets around Them

The matter-eating beast at the center of the Milky Way may actually account for Earth's existence and habitability

How to find a habitable exoplanet: Don't look for one

We Are the Aliens

The emergence of the human “dataome” is like a sudden invasion of Earth