Researchers studying the aftermath of a gargantuan black hole collision may have confirmed a gravitational phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago. According to new research published today (Oct. 12) in the journal Nature (opens in new tab), the phenomenon — which is known as precession and is similar to the wobbling motion sometimes … Read more
Black holes are cosmic vacuum cleaners — massive objects so large that not even light can escape them. Most people imagine black holes do nothing but sit there and devour wandering pieces of gas or dust. But could black holes actually have more interesting interior lives? Could they, for instance, explode? If an “explosion” is … Read more
Scientists have captured the first direct evidence of the sun’s magnetic field quickly switching directions, which could help explain the mysterious force that flings particles across our solar system. The researchers observed the phenomenon using the Solar Orbiter probe, which was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is jointly run with NASA. The … Read more
In Liu Cixin’s short story “The Wandering Earth (opens in new tab)” (first published in Chinese magazine Science Fiction World in July 2000), Cixin portrays a scenario in which the planet’s leaders agree to propel Earth out of the solar system to escape an imminent solar flare that is expected to decimate all of the … Read more
The shell of Jupiter’s famous ice moon may be formed, in part, by pure underwater snow that floats up instead of falling down. A new study, published in the August issue of the journal Astrobiology, finds that Europa’s icy crust might be built partially by “frazil ice,” a fluffy accumulation of ice crystals that also … Read more
Space: the final frontier. The region between our home planet and everything else in the universe is a big unknown — full of untold wonders, celestial objects so big they boggle the mind, and some truly catastrophic events. Here are seven of the most terrifying things in space. Are you ready for a “megacomet”? The … Read more
Gigantic deserts of almost complete nothingness that make up most of the universe may be causing the expansion of the universe to speed up, new research suggests. That means these vast tracts of nothingness could explain dark energy, the mysterious force that seems to be flinging the universe apart. Welcome to the desert Zoom all … Read more
The sun moves in such a predictable way across the sky that you might never suspect that its relationship with Earth is changing all the time. In fact, the average distance between Earth and the sun is not static year over year. So do we know if Earth is getting closer to or farther from … Read more
Lunar scientists think they’ve found the hottest places on the Moon, as well as some 200 Goldilocks zones that are always near the average temperature in San Francisco. The moon has wild temperature fluctuations, with parts of the moon heating up to 260 degrees Fahrenheit (127 degrees Celsius) during the day and dropping to minus … Read more
In 2012, a shriveled white star in a nearby galaxy reached the end of its life and exploded in a violent, thermonuclear supernova. Such explosions — known as type 1a supernovas — are a common end for billions of stars in our universe, typically resulting in the utter obliteration of the old star at the … Read more
