Astrophysics

A celestial object some 15,000 light-years away is emitting bright flashes of radio and X-rays that scientists are struggling to explain

Some stars streaking through the Milky Way at millions of kilometers per hour probably trace back to a supermassive black hole in a neighboring galaxy

The quirks of light moving through gas are the cause of stellar twinkling, which can be a bane—and sometimes a boon—for astronomers

Researchers have shown that abstract mathematical functions from the frontiers of theoretical physics have a real-world use in modeling gravitational waves

Astronomical amounts of energy could be extracted from black holes—to build a gigantic bomb, for example. Experts have now implemented this principle in the laboratory

Stars like the sun might erupt with extreme explosions about once per century

If dark energy is weakening, as suggested by recent results, then the cosmos is far stranger than most physicists had supposed

It seems contrary to common knowledge, but sound can travel through some parts of space quite well

ORCs—odd radio circles—are one of the weirdest recent discoveries in the heavens above

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provided a closer look at the aftermath of a star that wreaked violence on its planet

At the lower end, and to the bitter end, defining a star is tougher than you might expect

According to new simulations, many, even most, planets get ejected from their star early in their history