The biggest space telescope in history aims to answer astronomy’s oldest question: How did we get from the Big Bang to here?
Author: DENNIS OVERBYE
A New 10-Year Plan for the Cosmos
On astronomers’ wish list for the next decade: two giant telescopes and a space telescope to search for life and habitable worlds beyond Earth.
The Webb Telescope’s Latest Stumbling Block: Its Name
The long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in December. But the NASA official for whom it is named has been accused of homophobia.
A Nobel Prize for Stephen Hawking That Might Have Been
A recent study of black holes confirmed a fundamental prediction that the theoretical physicist made nearly five decades ago. But the ultimate award is beyond his reach.
What a Fungus Reveals About the Space Program
One thing’s for sure: Escaping the dung heap doesn’t come cheap.
Touring Trinity, the Birthplace of Nuclear Dread
A recent visit to the site of the first atomic bomb explosion offered desert vistas, (mildly) radioactive pebbles and troubling reflections.
Will the Next Space-Weather Season Be Stormy or Fair?
As another 11-year cycle of solar activity begins, scientists debate how violent our stellar friend is likely to be.
What to Name a Bunch of Black Holes? You Had Some Ideas.
Recently, astronomers asked aloud which plural term would best suit the most enigmatic entity in the cosmos. The responses were plentiful.
A Tiny Particle’s Wobble Could Upend the Known Laws of Physics
Experiments with particles known as muons suggest that there are forms of matter and energy vital to the nature and evolution of the cosmos that are not yet known to science.
The Most Intimate Portrait Yet of a Black Hole
Two years of analyzing the polarized light from a galaxy’s giant black hole has given scientists a glimpse at how quasars might arise.