The universe

Latest about The universe

a reddish-orange planet lined with craters and valleys

Boost for Mars life? Red Planet's magnetic field may have lasted longer than thought

By Keith Cooper published

Mars' global magnetic field may have hung around for 200 million years longer than scientists had thought, possibly giving life a longer window to take hold on the Red Planet.

Mars
a bright white light sits in the center, spitting out to the left and right layers of multi colored gases and particles, with warm colors on the right and cool on the left, like an hourglass tipped on its side.

'Cosmic inflation:' did the early cosmos balloon in size? A mirror universe going backwards in time may be a simpler explanation

By Neil Turok published

We live in a golden age for learning about the universe. Our most powerful telescopes have revealed that the cosmos is surprisingly simple on the largest visible scales.

The Universe
Dark energy is converted into a black hole in the early universe

If black holes form in 'reverse Big Bang replays' they could account for dark energy

By Robert Lea published

Black hole formation could be a little Big Bang in reverse, coupling the matter of a dying star with dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Black Holes
A purple circle with red and yellow fire within it and two yellow beams erupting from its poles

Hubble watches neutron stars collide and explode to create black hole and 'birth atoms'

By Robert Lea published

Astronomers have used a range of telescopes, including Hubble, to watch as particles dance around a neutron star collision that created the smallest black hole ever seen.

Black Holes

Satellites watch devastating floods in Spain from space (photos)

By Elizabeth Howell published

Valencia was particularly hard-hit.

Earth
A giant white flare, like an X bursts from the center of a fiery surface, blazed with reds and oranges in a swirling inferno.

X-class Halloween solar flare erupts from sun, causes radio blackouts (video)

By Meredith Garofalo published

The sun erupted with an X-class solar flare on Halloween, and solar activity is expected to remain high through Nov. 3.

The Sun
Jupiter's moon Europa is the next destination for the Juno spacecraft.

Explore Jupiter's icy ocean moon Europa in NASA virtual tour (photos)

By Stefanie Waldek published

Thanks to images from various NASA spacecraft, we can get an up-close look at the Jupiter ocean moon Europa long before the agency's Europa Clipper probe arrives.

Jupiter
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this view of a solar eclipse on Sept. 30, 2024. Phobos, one of the Red Planet's two moons, is crossing the sun's face.

Perseverance rover watches 'googly eye' solar eclipse from Mars (video)

By Samantha Mathewson published

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover was treated to a 'googly eye' solar eclipse on Sept. 30 as the planet's moon Phobos passed in front of the sun.

Mars
Lines shoot through the black night sky above a low faint horizon. Thin blue lines connect tiny points of light in the sky to trace constellations. A giant pair of transparent feet are hanging from above. A bright circle in the center is labeled Sun and bistected by a green line that extends from the horizon to the top. A dark circle the same size is lower right of the Sun and labeled Moon.

November's new moon makes a close pass to Venus

By Jesse Emspak published

The new moon of November 2024 occurs on Nov. 1, and three days later the moon will make a close pass to Venus in the evening sky.

The moon
a craggy grey moon on a black background

Icy moon of Uranus may have once hid watery secret, Voyager 2 archives reveal

By Conor Feehly published

Surface features of Uranus' icy moon Miranda point to the existence of a once deep ocean, one that still may exist today.

Uranus
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Archives