Science
Black holes, dark matter, gravitational waves and exoplanets: find out how astronomy is unlocking the secrets of the Universe.
Beautiful x-ray image shows vent channelling material away from the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy
Staggeringly beautiful image reveals the chaos at the centre of our Galaxy.
On Friday night the sky danced, and we'll be taking about it for years to come. The great aurora of 10 May 2024
Bands, rays and arcs of green and purple. This is what causes the different shapes and colours of the aurora
The shifting face of Earth’s cosmic light show is miraculous to see. Melanie Windridge explains the science behind the aurora.
Astronomers compared old Hubble data with new and found new supernovae and black holes in the early Universe
Comparing old Hubble data to today is revealing distant active galaxies.
Webb discovers evidence of an atmosphere around a rocky super-Earth planet orbiting a Sun-like star
Understanding the Universe: what we know and the many secrets we've yet to discover
In this article from the archives, Patrick Moore contemplates how far we've come in our understanding of the Universe, and how far we've yet to go.
Observing the invisible. How astronomers use the electromagnetic spectrum to explore the Universe
We can learn so much more about space and the Universe by observing objects in wavelengths other than optical light.
"Like shutting off Earth's power". NASA fired rockets at the solar eclipse to measure its effect on our planet's atmosphere
A beginner's guide to stellar magnitude, the scale astronomers use to measure the brightness of stars
What is stellar magnitude, and how do you measure a star's brightness?
The T Coronae Borealis 'new star' nova - visible soon - may have been seen by a 13th century German abbott
T Coronae Borealis nova could become a 'new star' in the sky any day now, and will be as bright as the North Star
Exploding dark stars could leave scars in the cosmos that would help astronomers detect dark matter
I'm one of the first UK scientists to get a look at the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample returned from space. This is what we found.
Confused about particle physics? Get the basics in our beginners' guide to studying the minuscule
What particle physics is, and what it tells us about the Universe.
Do you have a video doorbell? This tech company wants your videos of this weekend's meteor shower
Do you have a video doorbell? Your live camera may have captured footage of a meteor shower.
Astronomers are mapping the movement of stars in the Lagoon Nebula to learn more about how they form
The motion of stars in the stellar nursery may reveal how they’re born.
8 facts that show we're closer than ever to discovering whether life exists beyond Earth
From the icy moons of our Solar System to distant exoplanets, our knowledge and technology mean we're closer to discovering life beyond Earth.
How an 18th century comet-hunter's list of targets to avoid became the most famous astronomy catalogue
The complete Messier Catalogue, including magnitudes and coordinates to find each one in the night sky.
This hot Jupiter planet is hot enough to forge iron, and Webb has made a weather map of it from 280 lightyears away
Webb Telescope makes a weather map of WASP-43 b
What mammatus clouds are, and why the lumpy formations mean time to pack up your telescope
A guide to the large lumpy cloud formations known as mammatus.
Chandra X-ray Observatory captures 20-year timelapse videos showing evolution of stellar explosions
New videos show the evolution of the Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A.
Webb Telescope zooms in on the top of the dark cosmic cloud known as the Horsehead Nebula
A new view of the top of the famous dark nebula.
A black dwarf star is so old, it's even older than the Universe itself and doesn't technically exist...yet
A guide to the hypothetical star known as a black dwarf.
Despite the theories, the Van Allen Belts don't make space travel impossible, but they are a potential danger
The science of the Van Allen Belts.