Stories by Ken Croswell

A decades-long dispute over how much carbon, nitrogen and oxygen lie within our closest star has implications for the entire universe

Our galaxy is far bigger, brighter and more massive than most others

A new theory says these mysterious “ultradiffuse” oddball galaxies are dwarfs born in a whirl

And epic collisions are involved

A new breed of giants raises questions about how the biggest galaxies arise

The recently discovered small galaxy Leo P contains only about a hundred-thousandth as many stars as the Milky Way, but it's bucking the small galaxy trend by continuing to make new ones

A galactic satellite reveals where some of our galaxy's elusive material is hiding 

New study shows the sun may have snatched Sedna, Biden and other objects away from a neighbor

Thinly spread galaxies caught on camera

Solar systems with many planets are more likely to feature the circular orbits that could foster intelligent life

A vast ring of dust may explain the star-generating nebula’s birth

One of our galaxy’s arms may do a full 360, upping the chances that our galactic home is a rare cosmic beauty

New image shows the star’s system shares features with our own

November 5th marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Mariner 3, America’s first mission to Mars, which was lost in space. Steve Mirsky reports

 

Hubble spots a star in our galaxy’s halo that likely predates its oldest star clusters

On August 24th, 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft rendezvoused with Neptune, making it the farthest planet to pose for a close-up, a record it still holds today.    

 

A star 890,000 light-years away patrols our galactic frontier

The discovery could help us understand how planets and solar systems form

Recently discovered galaxies shaped like jellyfish leave a long trail of hot gas and dust, victims of even hotter gas from their surrounding cluster of galaxies

 

The May Camelopardalids meteor outburst turned out to be a dud, because meteor storm prediction is not a sure thing, unlike, for example, calculating the next eclipse

 

Five remarkable stars on the other side of our galaxy promise new insight into the outer reaches of our home turf

Pluto has at least five moons and an atmosphere—and now a new analysis places its diameter as bigger than its outer solar system rival, Eris  

 

When a white dwarf passes in front of its binary star system companion every 88 days, it acts like a lens to make the larger star appear brighter to us.

 

Gas from another galaxy is hitting our own, triggering the birth of bright new stars and adding fresh luster to the Milky Way