Astronomy

These record-breaking black hole winds could create a category 79 hurricane on Earth

By Robert Lea published 9 June 26

"This wind is unlike anything on Earth."

Do galaxies have a 'kill switch' that makes them stop growing?

By Paul Sutter published 9 June 26

Above a certain threshold, galaxies stop growing , no matter how much raw material they have on hand. The question is: what flips the switch?

Scientists propose spraying chemicals into Earth's magnetic field to protect us from powerful solar storms

By Sharmila Kuthunur published 8 June 26

Scientists have proposed a spacecraft-based system to actively strengthen Earth's magnetic shield and reduce the impact of powerful solar storms.

James Webb Space Telescope weighs 'sleeping giant' black hole from 10 billion light-years away — and it's 6 billion times our sun's mass

By Robert Lea published 8 June 26

"We can now undertake a more complete census of how black holes develop over time and infer their role in shaping galaxy evolution."

Astronaut spots Mount Vesuvius from space | Space photo of the day for June 8, 2026

By Chelsea Gohd published 8 June 26

"From orbit, volcanoes are some of the most beautiful natural sights."

Trouble near the Milky Way: The Large Magellanic Cloud is ripping its smaller neighbor galaxy apart

By Keith Cooper published 7 June 26

The Magellanic Clouds are a pair of dwarf galaxies passing the Milky Way probably for the first time, but as they move they have been interacting with each other for billions of years.

Scientists find wind blowing from our Milky Way's black hole after half-century search: 'There it is'

By Robert Lea published 5 June 26

After searching for 50 years, astronomers have finally discovered powerful winds blowing from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is blasting out a bunch of methane. Here's why that's weird

By Keith Cooper published 5 June 26

The James Webb Space Telescope observed a large amount of methane around 3I/ATLAS, revealing just how different it is from comets from our solar system.

Glittering star cluster image reveals missing patch of stars: 'We were not looking for the gap, but we found it'

By Samantha Mathewson published 4 June 26

Euclid space telescope observations of ancient globular cluster NGC 6397 reveal a subtle gap in brightness distribution of red dwarf stars.

Most exoplanets might be 'soot factories,' scientists say: 'Like you have a natural diesel engine'

By Keith Cooper published 4 June 26

A chemical engineer noticed that the spectra of the hazy atmosphere of mini-Neptune planets looked like the soot produced by combustion engines.