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Giant black hole at cosmic dawn
Meet J1342+0928, now the most distant quasar yet known, containing the most-distant-yet supermassive black hole. Both exist at a time just 690 million years after the Big Bang.
December 6, 2017
Are alien microbes hitching a ride on the International Space Station?
Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov found the bacteria in samples swabbed from outside surfaces of ISS. They weren't present at launch. Where did they come from?
December 5, 2017
Voyager 1 fires thrusters after 37 years
Now, the Voyager team is able to use a set of 4 backup thrusters, dormant since 1980. The team says it'll extend the life of Voyager 1 - the fastest and farthest craft from Earth - by several more years.
December 4, 2017
Supermassive black holes photobomb Andromeda galaxy
Astronomers thought J0045+41 was 2 orbiting stars, part of the nearby Andromeda galaxy. New work shows it's 1,000 times more distant, possibly the most tightly coupled pair of supermassive black holes yet seen.
December 2, 2017
Pulsars were discovered 50 years ago
In 1967, while helping analyze data from a new telescope, Cambridge student Jocelyn Bell observed a bit of "scruff" - the first evidence of a pulsar. The discovery changed our view of the universe.
November 30, 2017
Hello, Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy orbiting our Milky Way and a beautiful night-sky gem for those in Earth's Southern Hemisphere. Here it is in the light of atomic hydrogen. Whoa!
November 30, 2017
Probing the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Astronomers used an instrument called MUSE to conduct the deepest-ever spectroscopic survey. The result was a bonanza of new knowledge.
November 29, 2017
A farewell to Saturn
Two days before it plunged into Saturn's atmosphere last September 15, the Cassini spacecraft returned this final, full mosaic image of the planet.
November 22, 2017
Flowing sand, not water, on Mars
The dark streaks on Mars known as recurring slope lineae are likely the result of repeated avalanches of sand and dust, rather than seeping water, new research shows.
November 21, 2017
