At long last, a radio telescope on the moon’s far side

The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope is now moving into Phase 2 of development. It'll be built by robots, into a natural bowl-shaped crater on the moon's far side. If completed, it'll be the largest radio telescope in the solar system.

Listen: Have aliens already visited us?

A podcast featuring Harvard theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, on the subject of whether 'Oumuamua - the strange object that swept through our solar system in 2017 - is an artifact of an alien intelligence.

See a nova or “new” star. V1405 Cas is now visible to the eye

A nova that first brightened in March of 2021 has now flared bright enough to be seen without binoculars or a telescope.

Voyager 1 detects a hum in interstellar space

Now 8 years into its travels in the deep reaches of space between the stars, Voyager 1 has detected a faint, low-level hum. It stems from the vibration of the plasma, or ionized gas, in interstellar space.

Astronomers photograph giant exoplanet in unusual large orbit

A giant gas exoplanet in an unusually large orbit has been directly imaged by astronomers via the Young Suns Exoplanet Survey (YSES). It is 20 times as far from its star as Jupiter is from our sun.

The fiery fate of China’s Long March 5B rocket

The core stage of China's Long March 5B rocket - which launched the Tianhe space station module - plummeted into the Indian Ocean on May 8, 2021. In a statement issued that day, new NASA administrator Bill Nelson criticized China's handling of the re-entry.

Warp drives: Physicists give chances of faster-than-light space travel a boost

If humanity wants to travel between stars, people are going to need to travel faster than the fastest-moving stuff known in our universe: light. New research suggests that it might be possible to build warp drives and beat the galactic speed limit.

Swimming up sky and up river

A couple of charts from master chart-maker Guy Ottewell, showing Mercury in the sky now and throughout 2021. Plus a word about a lost whale ...

Natural radio signal buzzes in Venus’ atmosphere

New measurements from Parker Solar Probe - the first new direct measurements of Venus' atmosphere in nearly 30 years - showed an unexpected natural radio signal being emitted by Venus' ionosphere. The probe made the discovery while using Venus as a "gravity slingshot" to come closer to the sun.

These 5 multi-star systems have habitable zones

Astronomers have identified 5 multi-star systems that have stable habitable zones. This means that any rocky worlds that may exist in those zones could potentially have life.