Paul Sutter
Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute in New York City. Paul received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy, His research focuses on many diverse topics, from the emptiest regions of the universe to the earliest moments of the Big Bang to the hunt for the first stars. As an "Agent to the Stars," Paul has passionately engaged the public in science outreach for several years. He is the host of the popular "Ask a Spaceman!" podcast, author of "Your Place in the Universe" and "How to Die in Space" and he frequently appears on TV — including on The Weather Channel, for which he serves as Official Space Specialist.
Latest articles by Paul Sutter
![spindly purple swirls in deep space, representing star formation in the early universe](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/G32CEcsuC7tnoXGtrg5yaY-320-80.jpeg)
Why didn't the infant universe collapse into a black hole?
By Paul Sutter published
Why didn't the universe collapse into a black hole during the earliest moments of the Big Bang? Simply put, because that's not how you make a black hole.
![dark energy depicted as wispy clouds of energy and material](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yHenHqtMKYqEno7k6HCEif-320-80.jpg)
A dynamic form of dark energy may explain strange radiation signal from the early universe
By Paul Sutter published
We may have already found evidence of an evolving, dynamic kind of dark energy, in the form of the radiation emitted when the first stars appeared in the universe.
![Image showing dozens of faraway galaxies in deep space.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C2xHVEoft4ZiiXbpdr2H9E-320-80.jpg)
Dark matter atoms may form shadowy galaxies with rapid star formation
By Paul Sutter published
Dark matter, the invisible material that makes up the vast majority of the universe's mass, may collect itself to form atoms, a new simulation shows.
![a bright white spiral in space](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/A9g7gwBvUw94oWHJGoLcWJ-320-80.jpg)
New Milky Way map reveals the magnificent messiness of our galaxy
By Paul Sutter published
Astronomers have used the youngest objects in the Milky Way to build a new map of the galaxy's spiral arms, and the results are far messier than expected.
![a black hole surrounded by a ring of white light](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DXbPs5MXbcTmZ4gGoqXS3g-320-80.jpg)
Strange star system may hold first evidence of an ultra-rare 'dark matter star'
By Paul Sutter published
In a distant star system, a sunlike star orbits an invisible object that may be the first example of a 'boson star' made of dark matter, new research suggests.
![An illustration of a black hole blowing material away with powerful jets](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KEhitEvWW7AhSkpd83CuJN-320-80.jpg)
Some black holes may actually be tangles in the fabric of space-time, new research suggests
By Paul Sutter published
A new paper discusses how light interacts with theoretical objects called "topological solitons" — kinks in the fabric of space-time that look just like black holes.
![Artist's illustration of the view from the seas of a potentially habitable "Hycean" exoplanet.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GrbSZEepPjJCdbqR5TRzqP-320-80.jpg)
'Hycean' exoplanets may not be able to support life after all
By Paul Sutter published
New research suggests that Hycean exoplanets would suffer from a catastrophic runaway greenhouse effect, causing their oceans to boil away.
![A NASA illustration of a black hole with the pitch black heart ringed by the event horizon](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Zv68SNZJY7DYz5o4tmQwff-320-80.jpg)
Tiny primordial black holes could have created their own Big Bang
By Paul Sutter published
A large population of small black holes could have flooded the young cosmos with particles and radiation, creating their own black hole-powered Big Bang, physicists propose in a new paper.
![light rays streaming through space from a single source](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/R9yBfrhnUUtW6D3wyTrDCg-320-80.jpg)
Cosmic rays pose dangers to frequent flyers. This radiation detector could help.
By Paul Sutter published
These cosmic rays typically come from the extremely distant universe, from ultrapowerful events such as supernovas and quasars.
![Star formation inside the Small Magellanic Cloud revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NbSzKgGUeZonHku7RJoPpj-320-80.jpg)
'Dragon cloud' holds clues about how the biggest stars in the galaxy are born
By Paul Sutter published
A massive, cold clump of material in the heart of the "Dragon cloud" is ready to form a single giant star, and astronomers got a rare glimpse of the event.
![An artist's impression of a black-widow pulsar tearing material from a companion star.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EjVi2s7Ziu4p4BZyLbceUe-320-80.jpg)
New kind of pulsar may explain how mysterious 'black widow' systems evolve
By Paul Sutter published
Astronomers have identified a new kind of pulsar that consumes an orbiting companion, filling in a missing link about how some of the strangest systems in the universe evolve.
![This high-resolution view of the asteroid Dimorphos was created by combining the final 10 full-frame images obtained by the NASA DART probe's Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) and layering the higher-resolution images on top of the lower-resolution ones. Dimorphos is oriented so that its north pole is toward the top of the image.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SesDpJeGNZnVWifTQ3HrG4-320-80.png)
NASA's asteroid-smashing DART mission revealed how battered space rock Dimorphos formed
By Paul Sutter published
Observations by NASA's DART spacecraft suggest that the asteroid Dimorphos formed from material flung into space by its spinning asteroid partner, Didymos.
![The planet Mercury seen from NASA's Messenger spacecraft in December 2009.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jQKcQhpHzSq7JSJ2987Hoa-320-80.jpg)
Why is Mercury so weird? Blame the giant outer planets.
By Paul Sutter published
Mercury is so strange that astronomers have not been able to explain its properties with simulations of the solar system's formation. But now, researchers have found an important clue.
![purple, pink and magneta elliptical image of cosmic microwave background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cvaEEWWuhMuFc8FmnNSN8n-320-80.png)
The universe might be shaped like a doughnut, not like a pancake, new research suggests
By Paul Sutter published
The universe may be flat, but could still be shaped like a doughnut, weird patterns in leftover light from the Big Bang suggest.
![An illustation showing a twinkling burst of starlight at the center of a turbulent field of crackling orange radiation and glowing black holes.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hgxR9Q4kbabbJkUaUDjsFY-320-80.jpeg)
The early universe was crammed with stars 10,000 times the size of our sun, new study suggests
By Paul Sutter published
When the universe's first stars emerged from the cosmic dark ages, they ballooned to 10,000 times the mass of Earth's sun, new research suggests.
![newton's laws of motion: illustration of a person holding an apple with mathematical equations in front and an illustration of orbits in behind](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pAvuA3Pe5uHMhGomaKXVLM-320-80.jpg)
What are Newton's laws of motion?
By Paul Sutter last updated
Reference Newton's Laws of Motion is one of the reasons that Sir Isaac Newton is often considered the No. 1 scientist of all time.
![a series of ripples on a blue grid background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xQ7vSHFwA7Z2vXBx5BsngU-320-80.jpg)
Faint gravitational waves may be from primordial fractures in space-time
By Paul Sutter published
The early universe may have been such a violent place that space-time itself fractured like a pane of glass, releasing gravitational waves that astronomers say we may have already detected.
![a colorful field of stars in deep space](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Be5EtabBFPuMQfT4yjiLpU-320-80.jpg)
Dark energy could lead to a second (and third, and fourth) Big Bang, new research suggests
By Paul Sutter published
Scientists have proposed a way that the universe could stop expanding, ending in a 'Big Crunch' that resets space and time as we know it.
![NGC 1858 is a loosely-bound collection of stars and a place where ionized interstellar gas glows.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/q7x3qqHqpsBu9JtaTiSqrh-320-80.jpg)
Blue stragglers are the weird grandparents of the galaxy
By Paul Sutter published
Finding and studying these strange stars helps us understand the complicated life cycles of normal, more well-behaved stars.
![Does the universe rotate?](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AWcavUASABGqVnMnFeBJNS-320-80.jpg)
Do we live in a rotating universe? If we did, we could travel back in time
By Paul Sutter published
A rotating universe would be capable of rotating your future into your own past, allowing you to travel back in time.
![A galaxy with a large reservoir of dark matter (purple overlay) in its center.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FPm7nv4Xq9PyYhWBWKRCAR-320-80.jpg)
The universe is slightly hotter than it should be. 'Dark photons' could be to blame.
By Paul Sutter published
Intergalactic gas clouds are slightly hotter than they should be, new research claims, and theoretical particles called 'dark photons' could explain it.
![The first publicly released science-quality image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, revealed on July 11, 2022, is the deepest infrared view of the universe to date.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cMDRA3454bGvfZASbxviZe-320-80.jpg)
No, the Big Bang theory is not 'broken.' Here's how we know.
By Paul Sutter published
Researchers confirmed that the distant galaxies discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope are, indeed, perfectly compatible with our modern understanding of cosmology.
![Astronomy has plenty of space for amateurs.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AvrkLBZKcxX2GgFUVyHJQE-320-80.jpg)
Almost anyone can become an amateur astronomer. What will you find?
By Paul Sutter published
Want to become a published astronomer? All it takes is a spare telescope, or at least a decent internet connection, and plenty of patience.