Space

Apr 2nd, 2025 - Is the Universe inside a Black Hole? The spins of some early galaxies could be a clue that the entire observable universe exists within a black hole—except, that is, for all the evidence to the contrary By In today's bleak media landscape of legitimate news existing alongside rampant chatbot hallucinations and a social epidemic of disinformation, it should go without saying that you can't believe everything that you read. But this should especially apply to sweeping claims concerning the ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - On March 27, scientists bid farewell to the Gaia telescope, bringing to a close its groundbreaking 11-year mission of mapping the Milky Way and our cosmic neighborhood. Though not as famous as some of its peers like the Hubble or James Webb space telescopes, Gaia has reshaped our understanding of our home galaxy, the Milky Way . Since 2014, the European Space Agency 's ( ESA ) telescope has meticulously charted the cosmos, creating a vast catalog of nearly 2 billion stars, more than 4 million ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - April marks a seasonal shift, not only on Earth but also in our skies. As flowers bloom and rains arrive, the night sky reveals its own spectacle. Planets reposition themselves, a meteor shower sparks across the heavens, and a distant cluster of ancient stars invites a closer look. Whether you're stepping outside for the first time with binoculars or you've mapped constellations for years, this month has something remarkable in store. As the days grow longer and evenings get warmer, it becomes ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - By Over the past decade, two very different ways of calculating the rate at which the universe is expanding have come to be at odds, a disagreement dubbed the Hubble tension, after 20th-century astronomer Edwin Hubble. Experts have speculated that this dispute might be temporary, stemming from subtle shortcomings in observations or analyses that will eventually be corrected rather than from some flawed understanding of the physics of the cosmos. Now, however, a new study that relies on an ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - A new NASA space telescope has turned on its detectors for the first time, capturing its first light in images that contain tens of thousands of galaxies and stars. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer ( SPHEREx ) arrived in orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 11. The six released images, collected by the space telescope on March 27, were each snapped by three different detectors. The top three images span the telescope's ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - "Mudball meteorite" spent 2 million years avoiding collision – until Earth One of the most studied space rocks of all time has given scientists another big surprise, with the "mudball meteorite" Aguas Zarcas found to have been in orbit for two million years without crashing into any other objects – or if it did, there was no damage. It challenges conventional thought of the "fragile" carbonaceous chondrite class it belongs to. This meteorite has captured people's imaginations since ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - April may be known for its rain showers -- but when the clouds part, nighttime skygazers can enjoy meteor showers and other dazzling displays all month long, according to astronomers. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere will be treated to simultaneous meteor showers this month. Fireballs from the Lyrids and the Eta Aquarids will be streaking through the sky at the same time from April 20 to 26, according to NASA. The Lyrids originate from the Comet Thatcher and peak during late April, when they ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . New hints from one of the most extensive surveys of the cosmos to date suggest that mysterious dark energy may be evolving in ways that could shift how astronomers understand the universe. Dark energy is a term scientists use to describe an energy or force that accelerates the expansion of the universe. But — although it represents 70% of the ... [Read More]

Apr 1st, 2025 - Jupiter's striking size, swirling gases, and dramatic bands in its atmosphere set it apart from every other planet. One of its most iconic features is the Great Red Spot, a storm so vast that it has defined the planet's appearance for centuries. Until now, much of the discussion has centered on the spectacle of that colossal storm itself. Recent observations are shining a new light on what happens above this famous vortex. These details open a fresh perspective on Jupiter's upper atmosphere, ... [Read More]

Apr 1st, 2025 - A newly released video has revealed a gigantic plume of solar wind towering above the sun in a never-before-seen, "cyclone-like" configuration that emerged in the wake of a massive solar explosion. The striking timelapse footage also captured strange lines streaking across the fiery scene like pixelated UFOs — but are actually distant stars. The video, which was released March 26 by the European Space Agency (ESA), is sped-up footage originally taken over an eight-hour period on Oct. 12, ... [Read More]

Apr 1st, 2025 - Deep within the Flame Nebula, about 1,400 light-years away in the Orion constellation, hot cosmic gas and dust are fueling the birth of new stars. This area is less than a million years old and contains not only newly forming stars but also so-called "failed stars" known as brown dwarfs.  Because brown dwarfs lack the mass to fuse hydrogen in their cores, they gradually cool down and fade, making them difficult to detect with most telescopes. Yet, at this early stage, they remain warm ... [Read More]

Apr 1st, 2025 - Earth Is Safe From Menacing Asteroid—but Our Moon Might Take the Hit An asteroid is headed toward a close approach to Earth on December 22, 2032. But fear not, the Webb Space Telescope just re-confirmed that asteroid 2024 YR4 has a nearly 0% probability of crashing into Earth. That said, astronomers are unable to rule out a possible impact with the Moon. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile discovered the asteroid on December 27, 2024. Shortly after its ... [Read More]

Mar 31st, 2025 - High above Earth at an altitude of around 480km (300 miles), roughly over Brazil, is something strange. A spot where satellites go haywire, where the Hubble Space Telescope can't collect data and where even the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) can't go on spacewalks. You can't see it, but it's there. And it's nicknamed the Bermuda Triangle of Space. Officially known as the South Atlantic Anomaly , or SAA, the strange behaviour of electronics in this region is caused by a dent ... [Read More]

Mar 31st, 2025 - The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world. Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered new insights into the planet's atmospheric composition and dynamics. This was possible only because of Hubble's sharp resolution, spectral capabilities, and longevity. The team's results will help astronomers to better understand how the atmosphere of Uranus works and ... [Read More]

Mar 31st, 2025 - Scientists caught a massive and extremely powerful X-class solar flare being spat out from the sun on Friday (March 28), just before the stellar eruption triggered a radio blackout across two continents. A video captured by the GOES-16 satellite, which is jointly operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows the X-class solar flare bursting forth from a sunspot on the sun's surface at around 11:20 a.m. EST on March 28. This X1.1-class solar flare , which ... [Read More]

Mar 30th, 2025 - NASA's Curiosity rover has made another remarkable discovery on Mars – the largest organic compounds ever detected on the Red Planet. These molecules , discovered in a rock sample drilled in 2013, offer fresh insights into the potential of Mars to support life. The findings suggest that Mars might have hosted more advanced prebiotic chemistry than scientists had assumed. Inside Curiosity's onboard mini-lab called SAM, scientists identified three organic molecules: decane, undecane, and ... [Read More]