An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new ultracompact binary of the AM CVn type exhibiting infrequent outbursts. The detection of the newfound system, designated TCP J07222683+6220548, was detailed in a paper published May 27 on the arXiv preprint server.

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Mars has received considerable attention in the past few decades, thanks to the many robotic missions exploring it to learn more about its past. NASA and China plan to send astronauts/taikonauts there in the coming decades, and commercial space companies like SpaceX hope to send passengers there sooner. This presents several significant challenges, one of […]

The astronomical records of imperial China are some of the most comprehensive archives in the history of science, spanning over two millennia, from 221 BC to 1911 AD, and providing detailed insight into phenomena ranging from comets to the rate of rotation of Earth.

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A team of solar physicists has released a new study shedding light on the fine-scale structure of the sun’s surface. Using the unparalleled power of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by the National Solar Observatory (NSO) on Maui, scientists have observed, for the first time ever in such high detail, ultra-narrow […]

The Sombrero galaxy has long had a place in astronomical history as an intriguing object. The first written record of this galaxy was noted in 1781, almost 250 years ago, by Pierre Méchain, a French astronomer and surveyor. Méchain was a longtime collaborator of Charles Messier, of the Messier catalog fame.

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The first observations of Pluto by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal dramatic phenomena on its surface, like seasonal cycles of volatile ice redistribution across its surface, and material being pulled from its very atmosphere onto its main satellite, Charon—an eerie interaction that happens nowhere else in our solar system.

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“Are we alone?” This ancient question has occupied humanity’s mind for a long time. In 1995, the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star opened the door to exploring this profound mystery.

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As federal funding cuts impact decades of research, scientists could turn to black holes for cheaper, natural alternatives to expensive facilities searching for dark matter and similarly elusive particles that hold clues to the universe’s deepest secrets, a new Johns Hopkins study of supermassive black holes suggests.

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