Latest articles by Robert Lea
Scientists detect signals of hydrogen from billions of years ago. Could this help us map out the universe?
Astronomers have used the MeerKAT radio telescope to detect hydrogen gas located billions of light-years away, from a period when the cosmos was billions of years younger.
Stars forge and deliver the elements that make up your body — and scientists may finally know how
Scientists are close to understanding how stars forge the elements that comprise our planet, bodies and pretty much everything else around us, and how they explode to distribute these elements.
How did the infant sun form? Scientists get surprising new insights from 4.6-billion-year-old space dust
"This transition, from a spherical cloud to a protoplanetary disk, is one of the most significant events in all of solar system history."
Supermassive black holes 'too big' for the early universe may not be so massive after all
Over massive supermassive black holes too big for early galaxies and detected by the James Webb Space Telescope may not be quite so massive after all.
Scientists may have detected the 1st direct evidence of dark matter
Using the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, scientists may have detected the first direct evidence of dark matter, in the form of a rare interaction between a WIMP particle and ordinary matter.
Scientists trace 7 stages of a meteorite's life, from hurtling space rock to Earth's surface
Studying 75 meteorites falling to Earth, scientists have identified the seven stages a space rock goes through as it crashes through our atmosphere.
Why do black hole flares die out? It may be down to how stars spin
Some stars encounter supermassive black holes and live to tell the tale. New research shows why the flares these encounters cause dim over repeated episodes.
Artemis Accords: What are they & which countries are involved?
Reference As the Artemis program aims to return humanity to the moon and beyond, the Artemis Accords lay out a framework for nations collaborating in this effort.
On Cloud 9: Have astronomers discovered the first starless galaxy?
Astronomers are closer than ever to confirming the discovery of the first starless or "failed" galaxy, packed with dark matter and gas but with virtually no stars.
James Webb Space Telescope observes 72 stars and finds planet formation is a race against time
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have studied 72 young sun-like stars to discover that forming planets is a real race against time.
Astronomers discover hot watery exoplanet destined to be swallowed by its star
A newly discovered water dominated exoplanet is in hot-water literally and figuratively, it orbits so close to its parent star it is headed to a fatal collision that will see it devoured.
The bubbling surface of doomed supergiant star Betelgeuse has been revealed like never before
Betelgeuse may be a well-known and often-studied stellar object, but that doesn't mean astronomers aren't capable of capturing this doomed star in a completely new light.
Pluto losing its planet status may be the best thing that ever happened to solar system diversity
Unpopular opinion time, Pluto being reclassified as a dwarf planet was a great thing for our understanding of the solar system and for the former planet, too.
The earliest galaxy 'swallowed' by the cannibal Milky Way left a scar at its heart
The earliest example of the Milky Way cannibalising a smaller galaxy for its growth involved a cosmic meal that left a scar at the heart of our galaxy.
What happens when a galaxy's supermassive black hole turns off? These dying radio galaxies could show us
Astronomers have discovered a hitherto unseen population of galaxies with fading radio lobes, revealing what happens to these vast outflows when their black hole engines stall.
'Dark stars' could be the seeds of supermassive black holes, scientists say
A mysterious hum of gravitational waves that fills the cosmos may be the echo of long-dead "dark stars" that served as the seeds of the first supermassive black holes.
Could 'dark photons' explain dark matter?
New research suggests that if dark matter is composed of "dark photons," it would not have heated the early cosmos like scientists thought.
James Webb Space Telescope finds 'hidden stars' making the universe's 1st galaxies much bigger than we knew
James Webb Space Telescope is finding that between the brightest stars, the cosmic skyscrapers, there are much fainter stars, meaning early galaxies are more massive than we believed.
Dark matter could magnify the jets of a ravenously feeding supermassive black hole
"We are very happy to have discovered as-yet-undetected phenomena in the jet."
Astronomers watch a black hole's feeding frenzy end with a bad case of cosmic indigestion
Astronomers have discovered that the feeding frenzy of a distant black hole ended with a windy outburst.
X-ray spacecraft detects the 36-million-degree 'breath' of an ancient black hole
Astronomers have spotted the blisteringly hot exhaust fumes of the earliest quasars, intensely bright cosmic titans powered by feeding supermassive black holes.
Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse! Astronomers capture clearest image yet of famous star's elusive companion
"These are among the best moments in science: seeing something new, unexpected."
X-ray spacecraft finds supermassive black hole stirring up the 'red potato' galaxy: 'There may be a cook in this cosmic kitchen'
Using the Chandra X-ray spacecraft, astronomers have seen a jet from a feeding supermassive black hole churning gas surrounding a galaxy nicknamed the "red potato."
