How to spot Canis Major, the big dog of winter By Joe Rao The constellation of Canis Major is visible in the winter sky this month.
NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope reveals a double star system with an alter ego By Samantha Mathewson A volatile double star system appears to change its behavior rapidly and unpredictably like a cosmic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Hubble telescope test inspires changes to combat gender bias in some NASA programs By Meghan Bartels Stars don't see gender, and now, NASA is working to not see it either when allocating telescope time to scientists, inspired by a successful experiment with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Tiny star's violent outburst catches astronomers' attention — years late By Elizabeth Howell Just like any small child, a tiny star had a huge yet unexpected temper tantrum.
Space photos: The most amazing images this week! By Doris Elin Urrutia Here are our picks for the most amazing space photos of the week.
Satellite megaconstellations prompt new warning from astronomy group about impact on science By Meghan Bartels The more astronomers consider the advent of satellite megaconstellations, the more anxious they get.
Mysterious 'fast radio bursts' from deep space repeat themselves every 16 days By Rafi Letzter For the first time, astrophysicists have detected a pattern in fast radio bursts, one of the most mysterious phenomena in the universe.
For stargazers, the Big Dipper is a celestial compass, clock, calendar and ruler. Here’s how to use it. By Joe Rao The Dipper is more than just a bright and familiar star pattern. It's a compass, a clock, a calendar and a ruler all rolled into one!
The dimming star Betelgeuse is acting weird. Here's how to spot it in Orion's shoulder. By Elizabeth Howell One of the brightest stars you'll see in the sky these days is Betelgeuse, whose red tones provide a fun skywatching target in February.
Two invisible stars are bending space-time deep in the Milky Way By Brandon Specktor Astronomers uncovered a pair of invisible stars creating ripples in space-time, a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing.
Rare monster galaxy grew rapidly 12 billion years ago … then suddenly died By Mike Wall Astronomers just discovered a rare monster galaxy that grew rapidly in the universe's early days — and then went quiet surprisingly fast.
Spectacular rainbow cloud in space spawned by cosmic showdown between stars By Samantha Mathewson A stunning rainbow-colored cloud of gas surrounds a pair of stars that duked it out a few hundred years ago.
NASA's exoplanet-hunting TESS space telescope moonlights in studying stars By Meghan Bartels In order to study planets, you have to look at stars, so you may as well analyze what you see.
In a rare sighting, astronomers observe burst of activity as a massive star forms By James Okwe Chibueze Sometimes the forming star swallows up a huge amount of matter, resulting in a burst of activities in the massive star.
When did the universe 'wake up'? By Paul Sutter It was a big moment for our cosmos when the first stars awoke, but it's an elusive one for scientists.
Physicists: Ancient life might have escaped Earth and journeyed to alien stars By Rafi Letzter A pair of researchers presented a wild new theory in a new paper.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is no more. Here's what's next for infrared astronomy. By Meghan Bartels The best infrared eye in the universe has closed, and scientists will need to wait at least a year before any similar instrument is at work again.
Space-time is swirling around a dead star, proving Einstein right again By Charles Q. Choi The way the fabric of space and time swirls in a cosmic whirlpool around a dead star has confirmed yet another prediction from Einstein's theory of general relativity, a new study finds.
Farewell, Spitzer Space Telescope! NASA shuts down prolific observatory. By Doris Elin Urrutia One of NASA's great telescopes will go offline today (Jan. 30) after 16.5 years of observations that helped to paint a more complete picture of the universe.
'Vampire' star sparks brilliant 'super-outburst' while gorging on its neighbor By Doris Elin Urrutia This rare finding was made by "accident," according to the research team that found the super-outburst.
