Astronomy

The early Universe was a busy place some 13 billion years ago. That's when countless young galaxies began to evolve and birthed stars at a prodigious rate. The hearts of those very distant galaxies show turbulent, lumpy disks studded with even thicker clumps of dust and gas that spawned huge batches of stars. Astronomers want to understand what's driving the clumping, so they've turned to recent surveys of closer galaxies in the "local Universe" that contain similar lumpy regions.

More than one third of the regular matter in the Universe is missing (we're not talking about dark matter, just regular matter). It's needed to make the current cosmological models work, so astronomers continue to search for it, and have found many indirect examples of it. Now a team of astronomers has directly observed it as a huge filament of hot gas bridging four galaxy clusters and containing 10 times the mass of the Milky Way.

Solar eclipses are beautiful, but they're a valuable chance to study the Sun's atmosphere as its surface is blocked by the Moon. Now, ESA can generate artificial solar eclipses from space with the Proba-3 mission. The two satellites fly in formation 150 meters apart. One spacecraft occults the Sun, while the other observes the faint solar corona. They can produce a new 6-hour eclipse every 19.6-hour orbit around the Earth. Solar eclipses on demand.

Comet C/2014 UN271 is one of the largest Oort Cloud comets ever observed, measuring 140 km across. It's currently at a distance of 16.5 AU from the Sun, which makes it tough to observe with all but the largest telescopes. Astronomers have used ALMA in Chile to observe the comet, watching as jets of carbon monoxide gas are erupting from its nucleus. This is a surprising level of activity for a comet that's so far from the Sun.

Scientists are using a new approach to find the mysterious - if it exists - Planet Nine by hunting for its heat signature instead of reflected light. Using data from Japan's AKARI space telescope, a team of researchers identified two promising candidates using their thermal detection method which is more effective than optical searches alone. But could these distant heat sources finally prove the existence of our Solar System's most elusive world, or will they turn out to be yet another false alarm in the decades long search?

The night lizards may have been the only terrestrial vertebrates that survived in the region of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs

The night lizards may have been the only terrestrial vertebrates that survived in the region of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs

Enigmacursor darted around North America in the Late Jurassic 145-150 million years ago and its skeleton is now on display in London’s Natural History Museum

Enigmacursor darted around North America in the Late Jurassic 145-150 million years ago and its skeleton is now on display in London’s Natural History Museum

Over the past 150 years, the rise in Caesarean sections and changes in diet could have led to smaller pelvises among women – which may make vaginal birth more difficult but could also reduce common conditions associated with childbirth

Over the past 150 years, the rise in Caesarean sections and changes in diet could have led to smaller pelvises among women – which may make vaginal birth more difficult but could also reduce common conditions associated with childbirth

Miguel Claro captured the Orion Constellation glowing red due to hydrogen gas, as seen from the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Portugal.

Japanese company ispace lost its Resilience lunar lander this month due to laser range finder errors, the company said.

Astronomers have discovered the strange dance that leads to the creation of rare "double hot Jupiters" in binary star systems that are "just right."

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman inspects her spacesuit’s wrist mirror at the NASA Johnson Space Center photo studio on March 22, 2024.

New research highlights the risks and occasional rewards of parental perfectionism

A simulation of the "aerial screw" designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1480 suggests it would use less power than modern drone rotors to generate the same lift, and make less noise too

A simulation of the "aerial screw" designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1480 suggests it would use less power than modern drone rotors to generate the same lift, and make less noise too

On June 26, you'll have an opportunity to behold the sight of a slender waxing crescent moon positioned just to the right of Mercury.

The world's largest digital camera focuses on the Virgo Cluster, showing never-before-seen detail in our universe