Astronomers have gotten better at tracking the motions of stars just beyond the solar system. But that’s made it harder to predict Earth’s future and reconstruct its past.
Author: DENNIS OVERBYE
Good News and Bad News for Astronomers’ Biggest Dream
The National Science Foundation takes a step (just one) toward an “extremely large telescope.”
The Doomsday Clock Keeps Ticking
Are humans the only beings in the universe confronting global self-destruction? Or just the last ones standing?
Dark Galaxies: What Happens When Stars Are Nearly Invisible
To dark matter and dark energy, add dark galaxies — collections of stars so sparse and faint that they are all but invisible.
A Famous Black Hole Gets a Second Look From Astronomers
Repeated studies of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy Messier 87 confirm that it continues to act as Einstein’s theory predicted it would.
Galaxies in the Early Universe Were Shaped Like Bananas, Study Suggests
Images from the Webb telescope suggest that newborn galaxies look weirder than expected. Exactly how screwy was physics at the dawn of time?
How to Create a Black Hole Out of Thin Air
Black holes were thought to arise from the collapse of dead stars. But a Webb telescope image showing the early universe hints at an alternative pathway.
Exactly How Much Life is on Earth?
According to a new study, living cells outnumber stars in the universe, highlighting the deep, underrated link between geophysics and biology.
The Big Nobel Prize Winners Were Short and Fast
The awards for physics and chemistry were a reminder that the most important processes in nature unfold on a scale divorced from everyday human affairs.
In Space, the Past Is Future (and Equally Unpredictable)
Not even the most advanced physics can reveal everything we want to know about the history and future of the cosmos, or about ourselves.