A giant black hole some 100,000 times the mass of the Sun has been detected near the heart of the Milky Way, making it our galaxy’s second largest known black hole – coming after the supermassive void at its very centre, Sagittarius A*. The new discovery, found hiding in a huge cloud of molecular gas,

‘The launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet,’ said Carl Sagan upon the launch of the Voyager probes back in 1977. Now, 40 years on, the two spacecraft are still speeding away from our little pale blue dot of a planet. It’s humanity’s farthest and

If Peggy Whitson isn’t one of your space heroes, she’s going to be by the time you’ve finished reading this article. The NASA astronaut returned safely home to Earth from her third stint aboard the International Space Station on Sunday, landing in Kazakhstan with an impressive collection of records under her belt. At 665 days

Ultraviolet light is what you might call a controversial type of radiation. On the one hand, overexposure can lead to sunburn, an increased risk of skin cancer, and damage to a person’s eyesight and immune system. On the other hand, it also has some tremendous health benefits, which includes promoting stress relief and stimulating the

Black holes are generally objects we associate with the collapse of massive stars, but researchers have debated whether they could have also formed in the instant after the Big Bang, long before the first sun fired up. New research adds weight to the argument that black holes appeared less than a second after time began,

Earlier this year, NASA announced the discovery of Trappist-1, a planetary system containing seven Earth-sized planets that could potentially bear water. Now, a international team of scientists has produced further evidence that these worlds might be habitable. Led by Vincent Bourrier, a Swiss astronomer from the Observatoire de l’Université de Genève, these scientists have been

Cassini’s glorious demise, in which it will plunge into the mysterious heart of Saturn, is now just two short weeks away. And to commemorate the occasion, you can’t just use any old symphony – which is why a team of astrophysicists has made music out of the orbital dance between Saturn and its moons. It’s

By estimating the paths of several hundred thousand stars in the Milky Way galaxy, scientists have sketched out some back-of-the-envelope calculations on how likely it is that any could nudge a comet or two out of orbit and into our neighbourhood. The bad news is there are around two dozen stars that could come close

In the beginning, there was darkness. And then, after hundreds of millions of years, light from primitive suns spilled freely across the Universe. What caused the lifting of this veil, however, has been something of a mystery. Now astronomers have developed a new hypothesis to explain how that primeval fog was pushed aside, allowing light

What seemed to be a new star blazed into existence on March 11, 1437. The galactic newcomer was witnessed by Korean royal astronomers, among the few people taking notes about the stars in the early 15th century. They recorded the spot in the night sky and reported that 14 days later, the flare vanished from

In the early hours of Saturday morning, researchers searching the Universe for signs of alien life detected 15 explosive radio signals in the space of just five hours, all coming from a tiny galaxy 3 billion light-years away. It’s the same galaxy we’ve received repeated signals from in the past, but the blasts, known as

While millions across the continental US turned their eclipse glasses to the sky to watch the Sun disappear behind the Moon last Monday, NASA scientists took to the skies to get a much broader view of the event. They’ve now released a few of their images taken from 15,240 metres (50,000 feet), including a spectacular

For the first time, scientists have predicted the activity of a comet based on observations of its trailing meteoroids – and in doing so have solved the mystery of how a meteor shower called the Phoenicids was barely seen from Earth for almost 60 years. Unlike some of the particularly famous annual meteor showers enjoyed

Space can be hell, especially for delicate hardware. So when vital instruments need to run like clockwork, sometimes clockwork is actually the solution. NASA is taking a close look at a design for an off-world rover that’s more Mad Max than Star Trek, one that relies on old fashioned mechanics to make calculations under intense

A team of scientists led by Mario Sucerquia at the University of Antioquia in Colombia have suggested a new explanation for the irregular dips in brightness of the star K8462852, since it recently resumed its unusual behaviour. The mysterious shift in stellar opacity could be the signature of a transiting Saturn-like exoplanet. “[W]e study the

This past weekend, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk promised to reveal photos of the space suit his company has been developing for NASA. Musk revealed the first of these photos on his Instagram earlier today, and promised to show “[m]ore in days to follow”. First announced in 2015, it’s taken SpaceX almost two years

Researchers have shown how astronaut urine, poop and even exhaled breath could be turned into 3D-printed plastics and nutrients, the kind of smart waste recycling we’re going to need if humans are to make the long trip to Mars – and beyond. The trick is in a yeast called Yarrowia lipolytica, which scientists have found

If you think the weather’s bad on our planet, consider the ice giants Neptune and Uranus, where intense pressures and super-hot temperatures are thought to cause cascading showers of diamonds. Now, researchers have recreated the effect here on Earth. Using high-powered optical lasers to rapidly heat polystyrene, researchers were able to produce and then study

Scientists have re-analysed fragments of a Moon rock brought back in 1972, and say that its composition reveals our planet’s satellite really doesn’t have water inside. Figuring out the wetness of our Moon is highly important not just for future lunar missions, but also for better understanding of its composition and origins. And these new

Mars may seem to resemble a cold, dusty, and dry landscape, but it looks like the atmosphere can also produce violent, unexpected bouts of snowy weather – particularly after nightfall. When the Sun goes down and temperatures plunge, Mars experiences intense snowstorms generated by strong gusts of wind, according to a new study that shows

If you’re currently residing somewhere in the continental United States, chances are you were able to glimpse at least a partial solar eclipse today as the Moon passed in front of the Sun (and we hope you used eye protection, too). But while most of us were living in the moment and enjoying the view,

As the moon snuck in front of the sun during Monday’s total solar eclipse, a NASA photographer captured a once-in-a-lifetime sight. Joel Kowsky, one of the space agency’s photo editors, was in Banner, Wyoming, to watch the solar eclipse when he photographed the International Space Station zooming in front of a crescent sun. Below is

The great American total solar eclipse of 2017 is almost upon us. On Monday, August 21, the moon will slip in front of the sun and cast a dark shadow that will travel across the contiguous United States. A partial solar eclipse will be visible around the entire country, but totality – when the moon

On 1 September, a mammoth 4.4 kilometre (2.7 mile) chunk of rock will pass within an astronomical whisker of our planet – the largest near-Earth object to come this close since NASA set up its Near Earth Observations program in 1998. Don’t bother unlocking the old bomb shelter, though. At 18 times the distance between

One manufacturing company just made history by successfully using a special 3D printer in extreme, space-like conditions. The team printed polymer alloy parts in a super-high vacuum, and hope their new tech will allow the design and manufacture of much more ambitious spacecraft and space-based telescopes. “This is an important milestone, because it means that

Forty years ago, the Voyager 1 and 2 missions began their journey from Earth to become the farthest-reaching missions in history. In the course of their missions, the two probes spent the next two decades sailing past the gas giants of Jupiter and Saturn. And while Voyager 1 then ventured into the outer Solar System,

Roughly 55 million light years away, in the galaxy NGC 5643, an exploding star sent a wave of gas and radiation crashing into a neighbouring sun. And it was just what astrophysicists had been waiting for. To the researchers who caught a glimpse of this cataclysmic event it was solid evidence that this type of

A closer look at data from NASA’s oldest functional Mars orbiter has thrown up a puzzling result scientists didn’t see coming: the Red Planet is hiding water ice where there shouldn’t be any. A reanalysis of readings sourced by the Mars Odyssey probe reveals substantial amounts of water ice buried just under the Martian surface

You know the drill. On Monday 21 August the contiguous United States will experience a total solar eclipse – the first time the path of the Moon’s shadow will travel across the entire country since 1918. There will be hype, there will be science, and there will be what we estimate to be about a

In the United States, the next total solar eclipse will happen on August 21, 2017 – the first time since 1979. Next week’s eclipse will be the first to cross the entire continental United States since 1918, however. According to NASA, the total solar eclipse on February 26, 1979 crossed through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,

When you’re away from home, care packages matter. But nothing quite says ‘we care’ like fresh ice cream launched into Earth’s orbit by a SpaceX rocket. In the most ambitiously orchestrated snack delivery in human history, astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) have received a shipment of ice cream from home – and

For the first time in nearly 100 years, the shadow of a total solar eclipse is going to sweep across the United States. The umbra — the darkest shadow cast by the moon blocking the sun — will appear in the Pacific Ocean and slice through 12 US states on Monday, August 21. Starting around

NASA’s Cassini probe is plunging to its death. The nuclear-powered spacecraft has orbited Saturn for 13 years, and sent back hundreds of thousands of images. The photos include close-ups of the gaseous giant, its famous rings, and its enigmatic moons – including Titan, which has its own atmosphere, and icy Enceladus, which has a subsurface

If you really, really want to scrutinise the limits of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, there’s a unique testing ground you ought to know about, although it’s a little out of the way. The galactic centre – the heart of the Milky Way, some 26,000 light-years from Earth – hosts a supermassive black hole with

Scientists have used complex computer simulations to figure out what lies beneath Neptune’s icy surface, finding a rare compound that gives us a greater understanding of how gas giants are evolving. The simulations suggest a little-known compound called ammonia hemihydrate is lurking inside Neptune, a compound created when frozen water and ammonia mix together. The

Life on the International Space Station (ISS) is always busy, with ongoing science experiments, training, incoming cargo crafts and more. But few things are as heart-stopping as actually seeing people leave the safety of the station and venture out into naked space. The next spacewalk is scheduled for this week on August 17, and NASA

Researchers have finally observed something that scientists had speculated about for years but never had a chance to witness: the Sun shredding apart its own, failed solar eruption. The Sun produces intense solar flares when a build-up of magnetic energy is suddenly released from the solar surface – but as scientists can now show, the

It’s been a while since anyone standing on the Moon needed to communicate with Earth – the last crewed mission took place in 1971. But recently we’ve had renewed interest in lunar missions, especially since the Moon is viewed by many as a stepping stone on our way to Mars. And one German startup aiming

The hype over the Great American Eclipse on 21 August is certainly reaching fever pitch now that we’re less than ten days out, and we hope that you are already prepared. But where there’s hype, there’s also conspiracy theories. Like the one that’s been gracing tabloid headlines all week – that this eclipse is the

A lunar rock brought back to Earth in 1971 has provided researchers with memento of the Moon’s magnetic field as it might have been just a billion years ago. The discovery suggests our nearest neighbour was still slightly molten on the inside 1 to 2.5 billion years after it was assumed to be frozen solid,

By now, you’ve probably – hopefully – heard that there’s a total solar eclipse to watch out for on 21 August this year. Dubbed the ‘Great American Eclipse’, it’s the first such event travelling coast to coast across the United States since 1918 and everyone is super excited. Naturally, NASA has been using this excitement

New evidence has revealed that the closest Sun-like star outside our solar system is orbited by four approximately Earth-sized exoplanets, and researchers think that two of these worlds might be habitable. Tau Ceti is located just 12 light-years away from you and me, and it’s nearness and brightness has long made it a mainstay in

When scientists finally detected the existence of gravitational waves last year, it wasn’t just a landmark moment confirming Einstein was right all along. That cosmos-spanning signal was traced to the ancient merging of two black holes some 1.3 billion years ago. Forget worlds colliding – this merger was unimaginably more intense and powerful – and

New research conducted as a part of the ongoing Dark Energy Survey (DES) has used the way mass distorts light to produce a bigger, more highly detailed map of the Universe’s dark matter structure. Not only do the measurements support the view that about 26 percent of the Universe is made up of the mysterious

When NASA posted a job description for its planetary protection officer role, the space agency was fishing for candidates with advanced degrees and experience working on interplanetary missions. What it did not expect, however, was an earnest letter from nine-year-old Jack Davis: a fourth-grader who wrote the space agency asking if he could apply. The

There’s a vacancy at NASA, and it may have one of the greatest job titles ever conceived: planetary protection officer. It pays well, between US$124,000 and US$187,000 annually. You get to work with really smart people as part of the three- to five-year appointment but don’t have to manage anyone. And your work could stave

Even if you’re not a hardcore astronomy-geek, this month is looking seriously hot for staring up at the sky. In coming weeks we’ll have a lunar and solar eclipse forming a space sandwich around one of the most watched annual meteor showers on the calendar, making for a great opportunity to throw down a rug

For the first time, scientists have detected water molecules “glowing” around a planet outside our Solar System, giving us the best evidence yet of an exoplanet with a stratosphere. It’s a huge find, and one that could tell us a lot more about the science of Hot Jupiters – a mysterious class of insanely toasty