Voyager 2 Makes an Unexpectedly Clean Break from the Solar System
The first scientific results from the spacecraft’s exit into interstellar space have been published, revealing a simpler departure than its predecessor
Stories by Jonathan O'Callaghan
The Risky Rush for Mega Constellations
Some experts are alarmed by plans to launch tens of thousands of revolutionary telecommunications satellites in coming years
Hidden Passage: Could We Spy a Traversable Wormhole in the Milky Way’s Heart?
Anomalous motions of stars orbiting our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole might reveal the existence of long-hypothesized tunnels through spacetime
Astronomers Find Our Second Interstellar Visitor Looks like the Locals
The object 2I/Borisov has the same composition as comets in the solar system, suggesting its system of origin might resemble ours
New Studies Warn of Cataclysmic Solar Superstorms
New data suggest the New York Railroad Storm could have surpassed the intensity of the famous Carrington Event of 1859
A Second Interstellar Object May Be Streaking through Our Solar System
The “fluke” find of a possible visitor from another star after the 2017 discovery of ‘Oumuamua offers thrilling scientific opportunities
The Gravitational-Wave “Revolution” Is Underway
As the fourth anniversary of the first detection approaches, the field continues to mature—with a bright future ahead
India Loses Contact with Lunar Lander
The Chandrayaan-2 mission’s Vikram lander is presumed lost after falling silent in the final moments of its descent
Map Reveals Parts of the U.S. Northeast Most Vulnerable to a Geomagnetic Superstorm
The composition of ground rock in a area influences the likelihood of electrical blackouts from solar storms
Earth’s Magnetic Field Reversal Took Three Times Longer Than Thought
A new study suggests the last field reversal 773,000 years ago took 22,000 years to occur, which could explain some of the inner workings of our planet’s core
One Search to (Almost) Rule Them All: Hundreds of Hidden Planets Found in Kepler Data
Improved data analysis could substantially increase the total known planets from NASA’s K2 mission, revealing fascinating new worlds and intriguing planetary patterns
Mysterious Outburst’s Quiet Cosmic Home Yields More Questions Than Answers
For the first time, astronomers have pinpointed the location of a nonrepeating fast radio burst, and the result defies expectations
European Comet Interceptor Could Visit an Interstellar Object
Launching in 2028, the European Space Agency’s newly announced mission will wait in space for an exciting target
Ending in 2020, NASA’s Infrared Spitzer Mission Leaves a Gap in Astronomy
Delays to the James Webb Space Telescope will result in at least a yearlong hiatus in space-based infrared observations
From the Lunar Far Side, China’s Rover Reveals the Moon’s Hidden Depths
The Chang’e-4 mission appears to have found material excavated from a frozen magma ocean far below the lunar surface
SpaceX’s Starlink Could Cause Cascades of Space Junk
Plans for thousands of new communications satellites would revolutionize global telecommunications but also raise risks of disaster in Earth orbit
An Exomoon Eludes Astronomers—for Now
Researchers may have already glimpsed the first-known exomoon—a satellite of a planet orbiting another star; but confirmation of that potential discovery could be many years away
A Heavy-Metal Planet Orbiting a Dead Star May Foretell Our World's End
The iron core of what was once a world has been found around a white dwarf star, shedding light on the final days of planetary systems—including our own
Would New Physics Colliders Make Big Discoveries or Wander a Particle Desert?
Around the globe, imminent decisions on proposed next-generation experiments are set to shape particle physics for decades to come
Sound by the Pound: Surprising Discovery Hints Sonic Waves Carry Mass
Some sounds might possess a tiny but measurable amount of negative gravitational mass
