Jun 27 Hayabusa2, a Japanese spacecraft, arrives at Ryugu asteroid to retrieve minerals By Jeremy Hsu, Scientific American If all goes according to plan, two spacecraft will commence close encounters with two asteroids by the end of August, in order to retrieve organic materials dating back to the solar system’s birth. Continue reading
Apr 26 This stunning map of the Milky Way pinpoints more than 1 billion stars By Lee Billings, Scientific American The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission has released a catalog, the most detailed to date, of more than 1.5 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Continue reading
Mar 14 Stephen Hawking, explorer of the universe, dead at 76 By Nsikan Akpan Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most recognizable scientists, died early Wednesday morning. He was 76. Continue reading
Oct 18 Watch 6:08 Witnessing the collision of two neutron stars is a ‘textbook changer.’ Here’s why By Miles O'Brien Astronomers witnessed for the first time ever a rare collision of two dense neutron stars. The discovery began with an instrument called LIGO, which won this year’s Nobel Prize for its discovery of gravitational waves once predicted by Albert Einstein. Continue watching
Oct 16 Neutron star collision offers new source of gravitational waves By Rashmi Shivni Astronomers have discovered a collision of neutron stars that released both a stream of gravitational waves and a flash of light, backing one of Einstein's theories. Continue reading
Aug 03 This ancient asteroid family reveals clues about the birth of the solar system By Roni Dengler An international team has tipped the debate on the origins of the solar system with the discovery of one of the oldest known asteroid families. Continue reading
Jun 07 Einstein’s theory and ‘bent light’ reveal a way to weigh stars for first time By Andrew Wagner Rather than expose whether celestial objects need to go on a diet, this new weight scale offers a chance to learn more about the life cycle of stars, including our sun. Continue reading
Jun 01 ‘Dancing’ black holes yield stellar object as massive as 49 suns By Andrew Wagner Astronomers announced they have detected another gravitational wave tearing through spacetime, changing of our understanding of black holes and other stellar phenomena. Continue reading
Apr 07 An ‘Earth-sized’ telescope takes aim at the first-ever image of a black hole By Joshua Barajas For years, actual images of black holes have remained elusive. The Event Horizon Telescope might be changing that as you read these words. Continue reading
Dec 27 Vera Rubin, who spotted the first evidence of dark matter, dies at 88 By Nsikan Akpan Vera Rubin, a pioneer astrophysicist who discovered the first evidence for dark matter, passed away Sunday night at the age of 88. Continue reading