Astronomy

Can you see nebulas in other galaxies?

Readers are spoiled for choice when it comes to popular science reading this month, with new titles by major names including Maggie Aderin and Michael Pollan

Readers are spoiled for choice when it comes to popular science reading this month, with new titles by major names including Maggie Aderin and Michael Pollan

In this month’s episode, go on a tour of the stars and planets that you’ll see overhead during February. First we’ll keep tabs on the Moon; say good-bye to Saturn; trace out the Winter Milky Way; and explore some lesser-known constellations near Orion.

The post February Podcast: Winter’s Milky Way appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The six-year results from the Dark Energy Survey highlight unresolved tensions in standard cosmological theory

Coding for the rest of us finally feels possible now that tools like Claude Code turn plain English into working software

This moon is doomed.

For the first time, a complex, ring-shaped molecule containing 13 atoms—including sulfur—has been detected in interstellar space, based on laboratory measurements. The discovery closes a critical gap by linking simple chemistry in space with the complex organic building blocks found in comets and meteorites. This represents a major step toward explaining the cosmic origins of the chemistry of life.

The search for life-supporting worlds in the Solar System includes the Jovian moon Europa. Yes, it's an iceberg of a world, but underneath its frozen exterior lies a deep, salty ocean and a nickel-iron core. It's heated by tidal flexing, and that puts pressure on the interior ocean, sending water and salts to the surface. As things turn out, there's also evidence of ammonia-bearing compounds on the surface. All these things combine to provide a fascinating look at Europa's geology and potential as a haven for life.

Red Geysers are an unusual class of galaxy that contain only old stars. Despite having plenty of star-forming gas, Red Geysers are quenched. Astronomers have mapped the flow of gas in these galaxies and figure out why they're dormant.

After evacuating four astronauts from the ISS last month, NASA is looking ahead to its next crewed mission to the space station

Astronomers have traced the origin point of a jet of material that is thousands of light-years long emanating from the supermassive black hole M87*

This open-source agent installs software, makes calls and runs your digital life—redefining what “digital assistants” are supposed to do

Columnist Michael Le Page delves into a catalogue of hundreds of potentially beneficial gene mutations and variants that is popular with transhumanists

Columnist Michael Le Page delves into a catalogue of hundreds of potentially beneficial gene mutations and variants that is popular with transhumanists

Deep Space Station 15 (DSS-15), one of the 112-foot (34-meter) antennas at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, looks skyward, with the stars of the Milky Way overhead, in September 2025.

Jupiter's icy moon Europa is a tantalizing target in the search for habitability in our Solar System. Its thick, global ice sheet overlies a warm, salty, chemically-rich ocean. But for life to exist in that ocean, nutrients need to find their way from the surface to the ocean. New research says that may be very difficult.

An exoplanet called HD 137010 b might be the closest thing astronomers have ever seen to “Earth 2.0.” The trouble is that it’s only been seen once—and may never be glimpsed again

The light, rare element boron, better known as the primary component of borax, a longtime household cleaner, was almost mined to exhaustion in parts of the old American West. But boron could arguably be an unsung hero in cosmic astrobiology, although it's still not listed as one of the key elements needed for the onset of life.

Some 150 million years ago sauropods dramatically shaped the dinosaur ecosystem in what is now the western U.S., according to a new study