Astronomy and space

Latest developments

European Space Agency’s Euclid mission spots spectacular Einstein ring

Artist’s rendering showing a white dwarf orbiting a supermassive black hole

Supermassive black hole displays ‘unprecedented’ X-ray outbursts

Rapid X-ray oscillations detected near the innermost orbit of a supermassive black hole could indicate the presence of a nearby orbiter such as a white dwarf

Asteroid Bennu contains the stuff of life, sample analysis reveals

Rock and dust samples brought back to Earth from the asteroid Bennu contain organic matter and a variety of minerals crucial to the emergence of life

Latest news

Artist’s impression of the Tetrahedron Constellation Gravitational Wave Observatory

Researchers in China propose novel gravitational-wave observatory

The Tetrahedron Constellation Gravitational Wave Observatory would consist of four satellites positioned in space

World’s darkest skies threatened by industrial megaproject in Chile, astronomers warn

AES Andes is aiming to develop a green hydrogen project in Chile’s Atacama Desert

Artist's impression of the Solar Parker Probe

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survives its first close-up solar encounter

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will perform 24 orbits around the Sun with the next close solar passes occurring on 22 March and 19 June

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Research headlines

Kenzie Nimmo presenting this work at a recent conference. She's standing beneath a large screen that says "Using scintillation to identify the magnetospheric origin of FRB 20221022A", holding a microphone.

Fast radio burst came from a neutron star’s magnetosphere, say astronomers

Image of a simulation of a core-collapse supernova, which looks like a messy, uneven green object inside a bubble

Wrinkles in space–time could remember the secrets of exploding stars

Artist's impression of a superflaring Sun-like star as seen in visible light. The image shows a bright golden ball with a few dark spots on it and a prominent flare emerging from the upper left side along with a flash of intense white light.

Sun-like stars produce ‘superflares’ about once a century

Solar wind squashed Uranus’s magnetosphere during Voyager 2 flyby

New data analysis reveals that some of our understanding of the ice giant Uranus may be false

Immiscible ice layers may explain why Uranus and Neptune lack magnetic poles

Simulations of "ice giant" interiors shed light on unexpected Voyager 2 findings

Extended cosmic-ray electron spectrum has a break but no other features

HESS extends the measured energy of electrons and positrons to 40 TeV

Delayed Big Bang for dark matter could be detected in gravitational waves

Late arrival of dark matter would leave subtle imprint on space–time

New imaging technique could change how we look at certain objects in space

3D reconstruction technique for polarized radio sources could also reshape views of how radio galaxies form

Quantum error correction research yields unexpected quantum gravity insights

Universal boundary that distinguishes effective approximate error correction codes from ineffective ones turns out to be connected to the fundamental nature of the universe

Explore more in astronomy and space

Eileen Collins in the pilot’s station of the NASA Space Shuttle Discovery

Spacewoman: trailblazing astronaut Eileen Collins makes for a compelling and thoughtful documentary subject

Andrew Glester reviews the film Spacewoman directed by Hannah Berryman

Astrophysicists reveal huge variation in the shape of exocomet belts

A population of 74 planetesimal belts orbiting nearby stars has been studied by researchers

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman telescope in a clean room

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope nears completion

The mission is expected to be complete next year with a launch by May 2027

Geological map of the lunar surface, showing the Kepler crater

Moonstruck: art and science collide in stunning collection of lunar maps and essays

Ian Randall reviews LUNAR: a History of the Moon in Myths, Maps + Matter

Astronomy and space: highlights of 2024

Michael Banks picks his favourite articles this year from the world of astronomy and astrophysics

Photo of Chris White-Horne giving a conference talk. In the background is a slide displaying a colourful image of satellites, planets and stars

Space agency leaders express fears and hopes for the future

Contrasting talks by UK Space Agency chief exec Paul Bate and his deputy Chris White-Horne frame this year's Appleton Space Conference

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab announces further staff layoffs

About 325 people, representing 5% of the lab’s employees, will be affected

artist's impression of a human settlement on Mars

Space travel: the health effects of space radiation and building a lunar GPS

We chat to a radiation oncologist and two atomic-clock experts

Eileen Collins attending a survival training course at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma

Trailblazer: astronaut Eileen Collins reflects on space, adventure, and the power of lifelong learning

Astronaut Eileen Collins and filmmaker Hannah Berryman discuss the new documentary SPACEWOMAN and the thrill of pushing human frontiers

Star chart showing Betelgeuse's position in the constellation Orion

‘Buddy star’ could explain Betelgeuse’s varying brightness

As-yet-undetected stellar companion would displace light-blocking dust

Artist's impression of the black hole triplet

Black hole in rare triple system sheds light on natal kicks

V404 Cygni includes near and distant companion stars

Timber! Japan launches world’s first wooden satellite into space

LignoSat will test the possibilities of building wooden human habitats in space

Diagram showing a blue neutron star at the centre of magnetic field lines and a yellow-green cloud representing a haze of axions. While some axions escape, and are represented by a red squiggly arrow pointing outwards, others become bound and interact with the magnetic field, producing photons (represented by blue squiggly arrows pointing outwards).

Axion clouds around neutron stars could reveal dark matter origins

Interactions between these as-yet hypothetical particles and neutron stars' strong magnetic field would produce photons that radio telescopes can detect

Mysterious brown dwarf is two objects, not one

Binary nature of Gliese 229 B explains its lacklustre brightness

Cosmic antimatter could be created by annihilating WIMPs

Detection of antideuterons and antihelium could help hone dark-matter models

First look at prototype telescope for the LISA gravitational-wave mission

The telescopes will be used to send and receive infrared laser beams between the three satellites in space

Objects with embedded spins could test whether quantum measurement affects gravity

Experiment could involve sending tiny diamonds through interferometers

Conceptual image showing a massive column called a gravity bar floating through space against a background of yellow stardust

Century-old photoelectric effect inspires a new search for quantum gravity

Proposed experiment could demonstrate absorption and emission of individual gravitons

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