New names for 112 exoplanets and their stars

Hundreds of thousands of people from 112 countries helped select names for distant exoplanets and their stars. So, for example, the exoplanet formerly known as HAT-P-36b - about 1,000 light-years away - now also carries the name Bran, from an Irish legend.

Scientists map a pulsar for the 1st time

Using a revolutionary X-ray telescope aboard the International Space Station, scientists have finally created the 1st pulsar surface "map." It shows odd hot spots and suggests that pulsar magnetic fields are more complicated than anyone had assumed.

Water on giant exoplanets both common and scarce

A new study of the atmospheres of known giant exoplanets suggests that water - an essential ingredient for life - may be common on other worlds in our Milky Way galaxy. At the same, there may be less of it than astronomers once expected.

2nd-known interstellar visitor rounds the sun

The 1st interstellar object - 1I/'Oumuamua - had already passed closest to our sun when astronomers first spotted it. So catching this 2nd one - 2I/Borisov - prior to perihelion was a big plus for astronomers! Before and after images here.

A second black hole at our galaxy’s center?

There's a supermassive black hole - 4 million times our sun's mass - in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers who've measured star movements near this central black hole are now saying there might be a 2nd companion black hole near it.

Explained! Enceladus’ enigmatic tiger stripes

How did the so-called tiger stripes - huge parallel cracks - form in the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus? A new study from the Carnegie Institution for Science provides some answers.

Meet the microorganism that likes to eat meteorites

At least one type of microbe on Earth not only likes to eat meteorites but actually prefers them as a food source, according to a new international scientific study.

Hefty black hole holds new record for high mass

Astronomers have discovered a black hole with 40 billion solar masses in the heart of the Abell 85 cluster of galaxies.

Interstellar object closest to the sun today

The fascinating object 2I/Borisov has been steadily brightening as it nears its encounter with our sun. It'll pass closest to the sun on December 8, 2019, then flee again toward interstellar space.

Astronomers catch a comet outburst

Remember comet 46P/Wirtanen? It was a bright comet about this time last year. Around the time it swept near the Earth and sun, the comet entered the field of view NASA’s TESS planet-hunter. And boom! It underwent an outburst, caught by TESS.