Is Dark Matter Just Black Holes Made During the Big Bang?
Stephen Hawking once proposed that unseen “primordial” black holes might be the hidden dark matter. A series of new studies shows how it can work.
A Bizarre Form of Water May Exist All Over the Universe
A new experiment confirms the existence of superionic ice, a black and hot form of water that might make up the bulk of giant icy planets.
Astronomers Creep Up to the Edge of the Milky Way’s Black Hole
Hot spots have been discovered orbiting just outside the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. Their motions have given us the closest look at that violent environment.
Star-Swallowing Black Holes Reveal Secrets in Exotic Light Shows
Black holes occasionally reveal themselves when passing stars get ripped apart by their gravity. These tidal disruption events have created a new way for astronomers to map the hidden cosmos.
Flattened Fluids Help Scientists Understand Oceans and Atmospheres
By squeezing fluids into flat sheets, researchers can get a handle on the strange ways that turbulence feeds energy into a system instead of eating it away.
Flattened Fluids Help Scientists Understand Oceans and Atmospheres
By squeezing fluids into flat sheets, researchers can get a handle on the strange ways that turbulence feeds energy into a system instead of eating it away.
These Spinning Disks of Gas and Dust Reveal How Planets Get Made
Detailed images of disks swirling around young stars show the details of how solar systems come to be.
Earliest Black Hole Gives Rare Glimpse of Ancient Universe
It weighs as much as 780 million suns and helped to cast off the cosmic Dark Ages. But now that astronomers have found the earliest known black hole, they wonder: How could this giant have grown so big, so fast?
Squishy or Solid? A Neutron Star’s Insides Open to Debate
The core of a neutron star is such an extreme environment that physicists can’t agree on what happens inside. But a new space-based experiment—and a few more colliding neutron stars—should reveal whether neutrons themselves break down.
What Happens When Two Neutron Stars Collide? Scientific Revolution
Even as the solar eclipse was mesmerizing millions, astronomers were training their space- and land-based telescopes on a far more violent astrophysical event.