How Can You ‘See’ a Black Hole?
How do astronomers find the darkest objects in the universe?
How Can You ‘See’ a Black Hole?
How do astronomers find the darkest objects in the universe?
Meet HELIX, the High-Altitude Balloon That May Solve a Deep Cosmic Mystery
Every now and then, tiny particles of antimatter strike Earth from cosmic parts unknown. A new balloon-borne experiment launching this spring may at last find their source
AI Could Help Find a Solution for String Theory
String theory could provide a theory of everything for our universe—but it entails 10500 (more than a centillion) possible solutions. AI models could help to find the right one
Collapsing Sheets of Spacetime Could Explain Dark Matter and Why the Universe ‘Hums’
Domain walls, long a divisive topic in physics, may be ideal explanations for some bizarre cosmic quirks
Our Galaxy’s Biggest Black Hole Just Got a New Close-up. What’s Next Could Be Even Wilder
As the Event Horizon Telescope pursues ambitious upgrades, the project’s latest results reveal the magnetic fields around our galaxy’s supermassive black hole
Could Gravitational-Wave ‘Memories’ Prove Einstein Wrong?
According to Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the universe remembers every gravitational wave—and scientists could soon test these cosmic recollections
First-Ever Magnetic Map of Milky Way’s Black Hole Reveals a Mystery
Polarized light from Sagittarius A*, our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, shows swirling magnetic fields that may hint at the presence of an unseen jet
A Dead Star Will Soon Spark a Once-in-a-Lifetime Display in Earth’s Skies
A nova called T Coronae Borealis spectacularly erupts every 80 years. Your only chance to see it will come any day now
Astronomers Fight to Save X-ray Telescope as NASA Dishes Out Budget Cuts
The Chandra X-ray Observatory faces a premature end under new funding cuts proposed by NASA—and astronomers aren’t happy
The Scale of Space Will Break Your Brain
The scale of the cosmos exceeds the bounds of human comprehension. But that doesn’t mean the universe is beyond our understanding
JWST Will Finally Hunt for Alien Moons—And Much More
The next year of science for the James Webb Space Telescope has been selected. It includes remote galaxy observations and, at last, a hunt for exomoons
How Heavy Is a Neutrino? Physicists Are Still Racing to Find Answers
A new generation of lab experiments is aiming to weigh neutrinos with astonishing accuracy