Wow! Zoom to the Milky Way’s center

Decades of work have gone into probing the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Click in for a video showing stars orbiting the 4-million-solar-mass black hole at our galaxy's core.

Was the outer solar system shaped by a stellar fly-by?

Computer modeling suggests that - billions of years ago, when our solar system was young - a star swept near, stealing some of our sun's material and creating the odd orbits of Kuiper Belt objects.

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has powerful chorus waves

Chorus waves can be converted to sound. The ones around Earth sound like singing or chirping birds. Jupiter has stronger chorus waves, and now its large moon - Ganymede - has been found to have chorus waves a million times stronger than Jupiter's.

A spacecraft to touch the sun

Launch of the daredevil Parker Solar Probe - which will get closer to the sun than any spacecraft in human history - has been delayed until Sunday, August 12.

How NASA will shield solar probe from crazy heat

The Parker Solar Probe, expected to launch Saturday, will get closer to the sun than any spacecraft in human history. How will the spacecraft withstand the heat?

Astronomers discover new, enigmatic fast radio burst

Fast radio bursts - aka FRBs - are brief, powerful, puzzling bursts of radio waves from deep space. Now astronomers have detected a new and even more unusual type of FRB.

Plate tectonics not necessary for alien life?

New research indicates that plate tectonics may not be necessary for life to evolve after all, increasing the chances that more exoplanets could support life of some kind.

Speck from an asteroid

Viewed under a microscope, it resembles a human hair. But this is actually an extremely precious speck of dust – a tiny sample from the Itokawa asteroid, brought back to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa mission.

Scientists identify best exoplanets for Earth-like life

Scientists have now identified some exoplanets that might have suitable temperatures for liquid water and enough UV light for the chemistry thought to have led to life on Earth.

Wolf-Rayets are hot, massive, bright stars

Wolf-Rayet stars make our sun look tiny. They can be hundreds of times more massive, millions of times brighter, and tens of thousands of degrees hotter.

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