Galaxy

One of the biggest cosmological mysteries centers on a discrepancy in how fast the universe is expanding. A new study comes to an intriguing solution by applying a modified theory of gravity and an unsettling “supervoid” that our galaxy resides in.

The James Webb Space Telescope may have been touted a successor to Hubble, but the old-timer still has some life left in it. These two iconic instruments have now teamed up to take a deep-field image of the colorful “Christmas Tree galaxy cluster.”

Astronomers have discovered evidence of a theorized type of black hole lurking in the distant universe. Known as an “Outsize Black Hole,” this object could help explain some fundamental cosmic mysteries, including how supermassive monsters form.

NASA’s anticipated Roman Space Telescope is taking shape, and will soon measure light from a billion galaxies, perform a microlensing survey deep in the Milky Way, monitor hundreds of millions of stars and peer into unseen galactic neighborhoods.

Our solar system officially houses eight planets, but some scientists say there could be a ninth hiding on the fringes. Now, a new study has found the oddities could be explained by modified theories of gravity, an alternative idea to dark matter.

The James Webb Space Telescope can look farther back in space and time than ever before – and it’s revealed puzzling galaxies that seem to be too advanced for their age. Now astronomers have proposed a new explanation for them – starburst galaxies.

A new chemical map of the local region of our galaxy developed by Keith Hawkins at the University of Texas at Austin has unearthed new structural details of nearby spiral arms of the Milky Way to a distance of 32,600 light years from Earth.

If a new study holds water it might be the JWST's most important discovery ever. Three bright objects in the distant universe could be the first candidate “dark stars,” hypothetical celestial objects powered by the annihilation of dark matter.

The annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition highlights the beauty of the night sky. The shortlist for 2023 has now been published, starring some stunning shots of the Sun, our majestic Milky Way, and awe-inspiring aurorae.

Besides the Big Bang itself, gamma ray bursts are the most energetic events in the universe. Astronomers knew of a few mechanisms that can produce them, but now an oddball gamma ray burst hints at a brand new origin – a stellar “demolition derby.”

At the heart of our galaxy lurks a supermassive monster, currently slumbering. But new observations reveal an X-ray “echo” from a time when the Milky Way’s central black hole awoke just 200 years ago, shining a million times brighter than today.

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted complex organic molecules, which usually form in smoke, in the very distant universe. With help from a galactic gravitational anomaly, the telescope could see the molecules from 12 billion light-years away.