Astronomy

Scientists may have solved the mystery of an "impossible" merger between two black holes so massive and fast-spinning that they shouldn't even exist, according to current theory.

The supernova was the death of a red supergiant star 500 times larger than the sun, in a galaxy just 22 million light-years away.

"Astronomers have wanted to spot a coronal mass ejection on another star for decades. We’ve now managed to do this for the first time."

The dome of the Gemini North telescope can be seen on top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, with shimmering star trails and satellite streaks arcing overhead.

"This study changes how we see the Pleiades — not just seven bright stars, but thousands of long-lost siblings scattered across the whole sky."

A European Mars orbiter spotted barcode-like dust streaks on the slopes of Apollinaris Mons, revealing how tiny avalanches help drive the Red Planet's massive dust cycle.

The X5.1-class eruption from sunspot AR4274 is this year's most powerful solar flare and Earth is in the firing line.

This image captures Comet Lemmon in dramatic fashion, its bright coma and faint tail arcing across the starfield.

Quantum gravity seeks to unify the theory of general relativity with quantum physics to describe how gravity works at very small scales. But there's a big puzzle surrounding the idea.