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Tiniest 'starquakes' ever detected

At a distance of 11.9 light years, Epsilon Indi (ε Indi) is an orange dwarf star (also known as a K dwarf) with 71% of the sun's diameter. An international team, led by Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) ...

12P/Pons-Brooks: How and when to see the 'Devil Comet'

A Mount Everest-sized 'devil' comet making its first visit to the inner solar system in more than 70 years could be visible to the naked eye over the next few weeks.

12 hours ago

Stunning James Webb images show birth and death of massive stars

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to surprise us with stunning pictures, but of what exactly? Astronomer Nienke van der Marel shows with three images how massive stars lead short but explosive lives.

13 hours ago

'The ghost has taken the spirit of the moon': how Torres Strait Islanders predict eclipses

It's eclipse season. The sun, Earth and moon are aligned so it's possible for the Earth and moon to cast each other into shadow.

17 hours ago

Image: Hubble spots the Spider Galaxy

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the gauzy-looking celestial body UGC 5829, an irregular galaxy that lies about 30 million light-years away. Despite the lack of observations of this relatively faint ...

18 hours ago

Hubble sees new star proclaiming its presence with cosmic light show

FS Tau is a multi-star system made up of FS Tau A, the bright star-like object near the middle of the image, and FS Tau B (Haro 6-5B), the bright object to the far right that is partially obscured by a dark, vertical lane ...

Why scientists are making space data into sounds

When you travel somewhere where they speak a language you can't understand, it's usually important to find a way to translate what's being communicated to you. In some ways, the same can be said about scientific data collected ...

Modeling M87's jet: Why do black hole jets shine and pierce the cosmic sky?

An international team led by Dr. Yuan Feng from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has investigated the validity of the two main models of black hole jets by calculating the radiation predicted ...

19 hours ago

Hot post-asymptotic giant branch star discovered in globular cluster ESO 37-1

Astronomers have discovered a new post-asymptotic giant branch (PAGB) star in a Galactic globular cluster known as ESO 37-1 (or E3 for short) and derived its fundamental parameters. The finding is reported in a research paper ...

20 hours ago

Planet cannibalism is common, says cosmic 'twin study'

How stable are planetary systems? Will Earth and its seven siblings always continue in their steady celestial paths, or might we one day be randomly ejected from our cosmic home?

Mar 23, 2024

'Dark stars': Dark matter may form exploding stars, and observing the damage could help reveal what it's made of

Dark matter is a ghostly substance that astronomers have failed to detect for decades, yet which we know has an enormous influence on normal matter in the universe, such as stars and galaxies. Through the massive gravitational ...

Astronomers find evidence that blue supergiant stars can be formed by the merger of two stars

An international piece of research, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has found clues to the nature of some of the brightest and hottest stars in our universe, called blue supergiants. Although these ...

Mar 22, 2024

NASA's tiny BurstCube mission launches to study cosmic blasts

NASA's BurstCube, a shoebox-sized satellite designed to study the universe's most powerful explosions, is on its way to the International Space Station.

Heat to blame for space pebble demise

The dust of comets fills the space between the planets, collectively called the zodiacal cloud. Still, severe breakdown has reduced that dust in size so much that it now scatters sunlight efficiently, causing the faint glow ...

Mar 21, 2024

Secrets of the Van Allen belt revealed in new study

A challenge to space scientists to better understand our hazardous near-Earth space environment has been set in a new study led by the University of Birmingham.

Hubble finds that aging brown dwarfs grow lonely

It takes two to tango, but in the case of brown dwarfs that were once paired as binary systems, that relationship doesn't last for very long, according to a recent survey from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA's Chandra identifies an underachieving black hole

Astronomers have revealed that a brilliant supermassive black hole is not living up to expectations. Although it is responsible for high levels of radiation and powerful jets, this giant black hole is not as influential as ...

Method to detect dark matter could lead to a better understanding of galaxy evolution

Everyone loves a two-for-one deal—even physicists looking to tackle unanswered questions about the cosmos. Now, scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are getting just such a twofer: ...

How a balloon-borne experiment can do the job of the Hubble space telescope

An astronomical telescope designed to complement the aging Hubble Space Telescope lifted off from New Zealand's south island on April 16 2023. But as a sphere the size of a football stadium rose silently and slowly over the ...

Thermonuclear flames: Astrophysicists use supercomputer to explore exotic stellar phenomena

Understanding how a thermonuclear flame spreads across the surface of a neutron star—and what that spreading can tell us about the relationship between the neutron star's mass and its radius—can also reveal a lot about ...

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Astronomers explore stellar populations of an extremely metal-poor dwarf galaxy

Four new DAQ white dwarfs discovered

Unveiling the formation of the first galaxies

Gaia unravels the ancient threads of the Milky Way

Scientists find one of the most ancient stars that formed in another galaxy

Astronomers discover a rare eclipsing X-ray binary

Astronomers discover at least one in a dozen stars show evidence of planetary ingestion

Astrophysicist's research could provide a hint in the search for dark matter

Astrophysicist explains science behind once-in-a-lifetime nova outburst that will light up the sky this year

Webb finds hints of a third planet at PDS 70

Floating crystals slow stellar aging. For some stars, this can delay death by billions of years

NASA's Swift temporarily suspends science operations

JWST observations shed more light on the nature of a distant galaxy cluster

Largest-ever map of universe's active supermassive black holes released

NASA volunteers find 15 rare 'active asteroids'

The cosmic neutrino background would tell us plenty about the universe, says researcher

Hubble views dwarf galaxy LEDA 4216

New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter

GALILEO: Scientists propose a new method to search for light dark matter

Einasto Supercluster: The new heavyweight contender in the universe

Breaking the ice: Molecular insights into saltwater droplet freezing

Rainforest response to deglaciation impacted by Australian Indigenous populations, study finds

Pushing back the limits of optical imaging by processing trillions of frames per second

GPT-4 for identifying cell types in single cells matches and sometimes outperforms expert methods

How wild is the Bengal cat genome?

Species diversity found to be directly correlated with productivity in eastern US forests

Scientists deliver quantum algorithm to develop new materials and chemistry

Scientific drilling unravels historical mystery surrounding Santorini volcanic archipelago

Astronauts have surprising ability to know how far they 'fly' in space

Study documents slowing of Atlantic currents

Quantum interference could lead to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient transistors

How many zebrafish constitute a school? 'Three,' say physicists

Gut microbiota and antibiotics: Missing puzzle piece discovered

Researchers discover evolutionary 'tipping point' in fungi

The world is one step closer to secure quantum communication on a global scale

New fossil rove beetle is a first in Africa

DNA nanotube rings: Research team develops important building block for artificial cells

Machine learning model demonstrates effect of public breeding on rice yields in climate change

Caller ID of the sea: Novel method of simultaneous acoustic tagging provides insight into whale communication

The 'baritone' of red giants refines cosmic distance measurements

Citizen astronomers and AI discover 30,000 ring galaxies

Study reveals ancient ice may still exist in distant space objects

Astronomers perform a comprehensive study of the young open cluster NGC 2345

Webb finds ethanol and other icy ingredients for new worlds

IceCube identifies seven astrophysical tau neutrino candidates

Explaining a supernova's 'string of pearls'

Astronomers propose a 50-meter submillimeter telescope

Observations explore the nature of merging dwarf galaxy VCC 322

Condor telescope reveals a new world for astrophysicists

Scientists discover methods to regulate carbon storage in humus layer of forest in north China

New modeling shows the intensity of CO₂ uptake is higher in coastal seas than in the open ocean

Catalysis breakthrough yields self-cleaning wall paint that breaks down air pollutants when exposed to sunlight

Researchers carry out first peer-reviewed study of fecal microbiota transplants in dolphins

We have revealed a unique time capsule of Australia's first coastal people from 50,000 years ago

Dig site findings suggests ancient artists may have been inspired by preserved dinosaur footprints

Entanglement entropies of nuclear systems found to grow as the volume of those systems

Research reveals significant effects of onscreen instructors during video classes in aiding student learning

Elusive 3D printed nanoparticles could lead to new shapeshifting materials

Researchers build interactive, comprehensive database of fermentative prokaryotes

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Science News

Did the James Webb telescope ‘break the universe’? Maybe not

There’s no need for strange new physics to explain anomalously bright, massive galaxies seen by JWST, Hubble data suggest.

JWST spies hints of a neutron star left behind by supernova 1987A

How to build an internet on mars, more stories in astronomy.

Astronomers have snapped a new photo of the black hole in galaxy M87

The Event Horizon Telescope image shows material around the black hole has moved, but other aspects remain the same, proving Einstein is right again.

Astronomers are puzzled over an enigmatic companion to a pulsar

The strange entity has a mass between that of a neutron star and a black hole. It’s either one or the other or something else entirely.

The strongest known fast radio burst has been traced to a 7-galaxy pileup

The galactic smashup, located 11 billion light-years from Earth, could have triggered star formation and also odd flares like the fast radio burst.

Salt may have carved out Mercury’s terrains, including glacierlike features

Mercury may contain a planetwide cache of salt that has sculpted chaotic terrain and possibly even habitable niches.

In 2023, space missions explored the moon, asteroids and more

This year, spacecraft landed on the moon, dropped off asteroid samples to Earth and started a journey to Jupiter's icy moons.

A bar of stars at the center of the Milky Way looks surprisingly young

The ages and locations of metal-rich stars in the galaxy suggest the Milky Way’s central bar finished forming just a few billion years ago.

How tiny red stars can test ideas about the origin of life

A survey of ultracool dwarf stars finds they don’t emit enough UV light to kick-start life, but they could reveal other ways for life to get going.

50 years ago, astronomers challenged claims that Barnard’s star has a planet

Astronomers have been searching for planets around the sun’s close neighbor for decades.

A rare, extremely energetic cosmic ray has mysterious origins

In 1991, physicists spotted a cosmic ray with so much energy it warranted an ‘OMG.’ Now that energetic particle has a new companion.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.

Not a subscriber? Become one now .

Earth Has More Than One Moon

Quirks of orbital mechanics make a cadre of sun-orbiting asteroids appear to be moons of Earth

Astronomers Fight to Save X-ray Telescope as NASA Dishes Out Budget Cuts

The Chandra X-ray Observatory faces a premature end under new funding cuts proposed by NASA—and astronomers aren’t happy

Jonathan O'Callaghan

Don’t Panic, But A Lot of Stars Seem to Eat Their Own Planets

At least one in a dozen binary stars shows signs of eating their planets

Robin George Andrews

Stunning Comet Spiral Offers Glimpse of Icy Snowball at Its Core

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is hiding a strange spiral in its icy heart—and it may tell scientists about the comet’s innards

Meghan Bartels

Astronomers Are Snapping Baby Pictures of Planets by the Dozen

Snapshots of a plethora of planet-forming disks offer more than just eye candy—they also reveal some fundamental aspects of how worlds are born

We Need Small Astronomy as Much as Big Astronomy

In an era of budget-busting mega-telescopes, we shouldn’t forget the importance of smaller telescopes, more focused missions and the unexpected surprises they reveal about the universe

Paul M. Sutter

JWST Will Finally Hunt for Alien Moons—And Much More

The next year of science for the James Webb Space Telescope has been selected. It includes remote galaxy observations and, at last, a hunt for exomoons

Two Giant U.S. Telescopes Are Threatened by Federal Funding Cap

The Thirty Meter Telescope and Giant Magellan Telescope might need to compete for survival in the face of federal spending limits

Alexandra Witze, Nature magazine

New X-Ray Map of Cosmic Megastructures Unravels Subatomic Mysteries

A new catalog of more than 12,000 galaxy clusters is helping scientists better understand the universe’s clumpiness, dark energy and some of the smallest particles in the cosmos: neutrinos

Ashley Balzer Vigil

A Solar Eclipse, Cancer Treatments and Robots with AI

New research reveals the origins of stars, sleep-based treatments and the planet’s limits

Laura Helmuth

Speeding Stars Can Reveal the Milky Way’s Fate

Maps of stellar motions can show whether the Milky Way will someday merge with the Andromeda galaxy—and a whole lot more

Inside a 3D-Printed Universe

Three-dimensional printouts of stellar nurseries are helping to reveal how stars are born

Research Topics

Scientists and engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian collaborate across a broad variety of scientific disciplines, from astronomy and astrophysics to related areas of physics and geophysics, in advancing humanity’s understanding of the universe. Learn more about the full spectrum of research covered at the CfA.

Articles on Astronomy

Displaying 1 - 20 of 778 articles.

Stellar murder: when stars destroy and eat their own planets

Or Graur , University of Portsmouth

An eclipse for everyone – how visually impaired students can ‘get a feel for’ eclipses

Cassandra Runyon , College of Charleston and David Hurd , Pennsylvania Western University

Planet cannibalism is common, says cosmic ‘twin study’

Yuan-Sen Ting , Australian National University and Fan Liu , Monash University

How a balloon-borne experiment can do the job of the Hubble space telescope

Richard Massey , Durham University and Fionagh Thomson , Durham University

Floating crystals slow stellar aging — for some stars, this can delay death by billions of years

Simon Blouin , University of Victoria

Total solar eclipses provide an opportunity to engage with science, culture and history

Nikhil Arora , Queen's University, Ontario and Mark Richardson , Queen's University, Ontario

New evidence for an unexpected player in Earth’s multimillion-year climate cycles: the planet Mars

Adriana Dutkiewicz , University of Sydney ; Dietmar Müller , University of Sydney , and Slah Boulila , Sorbonne Université

Solar eclipses result from a fantastic celestial coincidence of scale and distance

Christopher Palma , Penn State

Our survey of the sky is uncovering the secrets of how planets are born

Christian Ginski , University of Galway

Total solar eclipses, while stunning, can damage your eyes if viewed without the right protection

Geoffrey Bradford , West Virginia University

NASA’s search for life on Mars: a rocky road for its rovers, a long slog for scientists – and back on Earth, a battle of the budget

Amy J. Williams , University of Florida

Archeoastronomy uses the rare times and places of previous total solar eclipses to help us measure history

Sarah Sadavoy , Queen's University, Ontario

April’s eclipse will mean interruptions in solar power generation, which could strain electrical grids

Vahe Peroomian , USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

What ended the ‘dark ages’ in the early universe? New Webb data just brought us closer to solving the mystery

Themiya Nanayakkara , Swinburne University of Technology

A black hole discovery could force us to rethink how galaxies came to be

Robin Smith , Sheffield Hallam University

The brightest object ever observed in the night sky is a black hole that’s growing by the equivalent of one Sun a day

Philip Wiseman , University of Southampton

The brightest object in the universe is a black hole that eats a star a day

Christian Wolf , Australian National University

Why does a leap year have 366 days?

Bhagya Subrayan , Purdue University

Newborn gas planets may be surprisingly flat – new research

Dimitris Stamatellos , University of Central Lancashire

An astronomer’s lament: Satellite megaconstellations are ruining space exploration

Samantha Lawler , University of Regina

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The 10 biggest space science stories of 2021

The universe revealed more of its secrets this year, and new missions will further explore our solar system and beyond.

The year 2021 was one of major scientific expansion. Thanks to a variety of exploratory missions and their cutting-edge instruments, astronomers have been able to peer into the cosmos like never before.

Researchers have turned the Earth into a giant telescope to view powerful jets from a black hole. Solar system surveys have revealed new moons and massive comets previously lurking undetected by scientists. The sun has also been a main attraction for research as it reawakens from its recent slumber.

Here's our look back at the 10 biggest space stories of 2021.

1. Discovery of Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein

Two researchers unexpectedly discovered the largest-known comet to date .

Graduate student Pedro Bernardinelli was looking through Dark Energy Survey data to find objects that live beyond Neptune's orbit when he noticed an object significantly farther from the sun than the objects he planned to study. He asked his advisor, cosmologist Gary Bernstein, to have a look. 

They had actually detected a comet that is much larger than any of the ones known so far to science: It may be 10 times wider and 1,000 times more massive than a typical comet.

On top of that, this comet has not swung around the sun since the hominid ancestor Lucy walked on the Earth approximately 3 million years ago. 

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Their finding was officially designated a comet on June 23, 2021 and named Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein after its discoverers.

In a big sweep of scientific luck, astronomers will only have to wait a decade to see this comet approach the sun. Comets come from very far away, originating from one of the outermost regions of the solar system known as the Oort Cloud . Comets journey through our cosmic neighborhood in long elliptical orbits and can take thousands of years to complete one trip around the sun. 

Scientists should be able to get a more accurate reading of Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein's size and composition when the comet makes its closest to Earth in the year 2031, although it will still be beyond Saturn's average orbit when it swings nearby. 

2. Amateur astronomer discovers a new moon around Jupiter

A previously-unknown moon has been detected around the largest planet in the solar system.

Jupiter is a giant, so it gravitationally attracts many objects into its vicinity. Earth has one major moon, Mars has two: but Jupiter boasts at least 79 moons, and there may be dozens or hundreds more of them that astronomers have yet to identify.

The latest discovery was made by amateur astronomer Kai Ly, who found evidence of this Jovian moon in a data set from 2003 that had been collected by researchers using the 3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) on Mauna Kea. Ly they confirmed the moon was likely bound to Jupiter's gravity using data from another telescope called Subaru. 

The new moon, called EJc0061, belongs to the Carme group of Jovian moons. They orbit in the opposite direction of Jupiter's rotation at an extreme tilt relative to Jupiter's orbital plane.

3. NASA will return to Venus this decade

Mars is a popular target for space agencies, but Earth's other neighbor has been garnering more attention recently. 

In 2020, researchers announced that they had detected traces of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere. It is a possible biosignature gas, and the news certainly reawakened interest in the planet. 

In early June 2021, NASA announced it will launch two missions to Venus by 2030. One mission, called DAVINCI+ (short for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging, Plus) will descend through the planet's atmosphere to learn about how it has changed over time. The other mission, VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) will attempt to map the planet's terrain from orbit like never before. 

Venus has been visited by robotic probes, but NASA has not launched a dedicated mission to the planet since 1989. 

The interest in Martian exploration may be one reason why Venus has been neglected in recent decades, but the second planet from the sun is also a challenging place to study. Although it may have once been a balmy world with oceans and rivers, a runaway greenhouse effect took hold of Venus around 700 million years ago and now the planet's surface is hot enough to melt lead.

4. The sun is reawakening

The sun was experiencing a quiet time in its roughly decade-long cycle, but it is now exiting that phase.

The sun has had very little activity in recent years, but the star's surface is now erupting in powerful events that spew out charged particles towards Earth. In early November, for instance, a series of solar outbursts triggered a large geomagnetic storm on our planet. 

This eruption is known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME. It's essentially a billion-ton cloud of solar material with magnetic fields, and when this bubble pops, it blasts a stream of energetic particles out into the solar system. If this material heads in the direction of Earth, it interacts with our planet's own magnetic field and causes disturbances. These can include ethereal displays of auroras near Earth's poles, but can also include satellite disruptions and energy losses.

5. James Webb Space Telescope flies into space

A whole new era of space science began on Christmas Day 2021 with the successful launch of the world's next major telescope. 

NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency are collaborating on the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a project more than three decades in the making. Space telescopes take a long time to plan and assemble: The vision for this particular spacecraft began before its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, had even launched into Earth orbit.

Whereas Hubble orbits a few hundred miles from Earth's surface, JWST is heading to an observational perch located about a million miles from our planet. The telescope began its journey towards this spot, called the Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), on Dec. 25, 2021 at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT) when an Ariane 5 rocket launched the precious payload from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The telescope will help astronomers answer questions about the evolution of the universe and provide a deeper understanding about the objects found in our very own solar system.

6. Event Horizon Telescope takes high-resolution image of black hole jet

In July 2021, the novel project behind the world's first photo of a black hole published an image of a powerful jet blasting off from one of these supermassive objects. 

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a global collaboration of eight observatories that work together to create one Earth-sized telescope. The end result is a resolution that is 16 times sharper and an image that is 10 times more accurate than what was possible before. 

Scientists used EHT's incredible abilities to observe a powerful jet being ejected by the supermassive black hole at the center of the Centaurus A galaxy, one of the brightest objects in the night sky. The galaxy's black hole is so large that it has the mass of 55 million suns.

7. Scientists spot the closest-known black hole to Earth

Just 1,500 light-years from Earth lies the closest-known black hole to Earth, now called " The Unicorn ." 

Tiny black holes are hard to spot, but scientists managed to find this one when they noticed strange behavior from its companion star, a red giant. Researchers observed its light shifting in intensity, which suggested to them that another object was tugging on the star.

This black hole is super-lightweight at just three solar masses. Its location in the constellation Monoceros ("the unicorn") and its rarity have inspired this black hole's name.

8. Earth's second 'moon' flies off into space

An object dropped into Earth's orbit like a second moon, and this year, it made its final close approach of our planet. 

It is classified as a "minimoon," or temporary satellite. But it's no stray space rock — the object, known as 2020 SO, is a leftover fragment of a 1960s rocket booster from the American Surveyor moon missions. 

On Feb. 2, 2021, 2020 SO reached 58% of the way between Earth and the moon, roughly 140,000 miles (220,000 kilometers) from our planet. It was the minimoon's final approach, but not its closest trip to Earth. It achieved its shortest distance to our planet a few months prior, on Dec. 1, 2020. 

It has since drifted off into space and away from Earth's orbit, never to return.

9. Parker Solar Probe travels through the sun's atmosphere

This year, NASA's sun-kissing spacecraft swam within a structure that's only visible during total solar eclipses and was able to measure exactly where the star's "point of no return" is located.

The Parker Solar Probe has been zooming through the inner solar system to make close approaches to the sun for the past three years, and it is designed to help scientists learn about what creates the solar wind, a sea of charged particles that flow out of the sun and can affect Earth in many ways.

The spacecraft stepped into the sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona , during its eight solar flyby. The April 28 maneuver supplied the data that confirmed the exact location of the Alfvén critical surface: the point where the solar wind flows away from the sun, never to return.

The probe managed to get as low as 15 solar radii, or 8.1 million miles (13 million km) from the sun's surface. It was there that it passed through a huge structure called a pseudostreamer, which can be seen from Earth when the moon blocks the light from the sun's disk during a solar eclipse . In a statement about the discovery, NASA officials described that part of the trip as "flying into the eye of a storm." 

10. Perseverance begins studying rocks on Mars

Last but not least, this year marked the arrival of NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. 

The mission has been working hard to find traces of ancient Martian life since it reached the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021. Engineers have equipped Perseverance with powerful cameras to help the mission team decide what rocks are worth investigating. 

One of Perseverance's most charming findings has been " Harbor Seal Rock ," a curiously-shaped feature that was probably carved out by the Martian wind over many years. Perseverance has also obtained several rock samples this year, which will be collected by the space agency for analysis at some point in the future.

Perseverance is taking its observations from the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, which was home to a river delta and a deep lake billions of years ago. 

Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Doris is a science journalist and Space.com contributor. She received a B.A. in Sociology and Communications at Fordham University in New York City. Her first work was published in collaboration with London Mining Network, where her love of science writing was born. Her passion for astronomy started as a kid when she helped her sister build a model solar system in the Bronx. She got her first shot at astronomy writing as a Space.com editorial intern and continues to write about all things cosmic for the website. Doris has also written about microscopic plant life for Scientific American’s website and about whale calls for their print magazine. She has also written about ancient humans for Inverse, with stories ranging from how to recreate Pompeii’s cuisine to how to map the Polynesian expansion through genomics. She currently shares her home with two rabbits. Follow her on twitter at @salazar_elin.

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Black Holes

Black holes are some of the most fascinating and mind-bending objects in the cosmos. The very thing that characterizes a black hole also makes it hard to study: its intense gravity. All the mass in a black hole is concentrated in a tiny region, surrounded by a boundary called the “event horizon”. Nothing that crosses that boundary can return to the outside universe, not even light. A black hole itself is invisible.

But astronomers can still observe black holes indirectly by the way their gravity affects stars and pulls matter into orbit. As gas flows around a black hole, it heats up, paradoxically making these invisible objects into some of the brightest things in the entire universe. As a result, we can see some black holes from billions of light-years away. For one large black hole in a nearby galaxy, astronomers even managed to see a ring of light around the event horizon, using a globe-spanning array of powerful telescopes.

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists participate in many black hole-related projects:

Using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to capture the first image of a black hole’s “shadow”: the absence of light that marks where the event horizon is located. The EHT is composed of many telescopes working together to create one Earth-sized observatory , all monitoring the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, leading to the first image ever captured of a black hole. CfA Plays Central Role In Capturing Landmark Black Hole Image

Observing supermassive black holes in other galaxies to understand how they evolve and shape their host galaxies. CfA astronomers use telescopes across the entire spectrum of light, from radio waves to X-rays to gamma rays. A Surprising Blazar Connection Revealed

Studying the infall of matter — called “accretion” — onto black holes, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. In addition, CfA researchers use cutting-edge supercomputers to create theoretical models for the disks and jets of matter that black holes create around themselves. Supermassive Black Hole Spins Super-Fast

Hunting for black hole interactions with other astronomical objects. That includes “disruption” events, where black holes tear stars or other objects apart, creating bursts of intense light. Black Hole Meal Sets Record for Length and Size

Observing clusters of stars to find intermediate mass black holes, and modeling how they shape their environments. A Middleweight Black Hole is Hiding at the Center of a Giant Star Cluster

Hunting for and characterizing stellar mass black holes, which can include information about their birth process and evolution. NASA's Chandra Adds to Black Hole Birth Announcement

The Varieties of Black Holes

Black holes come in three categories:

Stellar Mass Black Holes are born from the death of stars much more massive than the Sun. When some of these stars run out of the nuclear fuel that makes them shine, their cores collapse into black holes under their own gravity. Other stellar mass black holes form from the collision of neutron stars , such as the ones first detected by LIGO and Virgo in 2017. These are probably the most common black holes in the cosmos, but are hard to detect unless they have an ordinary star for a companion. When that happens, the black hole can strip material from the star, causing the gas to heat up and glow brightly in X-rays.

Supermassive Black Holes are the monsters of the universe, living at the centers of nearly every galaxy. They range in mass from 100,000 to billions of times the mass of the Sun, far too massive to be born from a single star. The Milky Way’s black hole is about 4 million times the Sun’s mass, putting it in the middle of the pack. In the form of quasars and other “active” galaxies , these black holes can shine brightly enough to be seen from billions of light-years away. Understanding when these black holes formed and how they grow is a major area of research. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists are part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which captured the first-ever image of the black hole: the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87.

Intermediate Mass Black Holes are the most mysterious, since we’ve hardly seen any of them yet. They weigh 100 to 10,000 times the mass of the Sun, putting them between stellar and supermassive black holes. We don’t know exactly how many of these are, and like supermassive black holes, we don’t fully understand how they’re born or grow. However, studying them could tell us a lot about how the most supermassive black holes came to be.

Black holes can seem bizarre and incomprehensible, but in truth they’re remarkably understandable. Despite not being able to see black holes directly, we know quite a bit about them. They are …

Simple . All three black hole types can be described by just two observable quantities: their mass and how fast they spin. That’s much simpler than a star, for example, which in addition to mass is a product of its unique history and evolution , including its chemical makeup. Mass and spin tell us everything we need to know about a black hole: it “forgets” everything that went into making it. Those two quantities determine how big the event horizon is, and the way gravity affects any matter falling onto the black hole.

Compact . Black holes are tiny compared to their mass. The event horizon of a black hole the mass of the Sun would be no more than 6 kilometers across, and the faster it spins, the smaller that size is. Even a supermassive black hole would fit easily inside our Solar System.

Powerful . The combination of large mass and small size results in very strong gravity. This gravity is strong enough to pull a star apart if it gets too close, producing powerful bursts of light. A supermassive black hole heats gas falling onto it to temperatures of millions of degrees, making it glow brightly enough in X-rays and other types of radiation to be seen across the universe.

Very common . From theoretical calculations based on observations, astronomers think the Milky Way might have as many as a hundred million black holes, most of which are stellar mass. And with at least one supermassive black hole in most galaxies, there could be hundreds of billions of supermassive black holes in the observable universe.

Very important . Black holes have a reputation for eating everything that comes by, but they turn out to be messy eaters. A lot of stuff that falls toward a black hole gets jetted away, thanks to the complicated churning of gas near the event horizon. These jets and outflows of gas called “winds” spread atoms throughout the galaxy, and can either boost or throttle the birth of new stars, depending on other factors. That means supermassive black holes play an important role in the life of galaxies, even far beyond the black hole’s gravitational pull.

And yes, mysterious . Along with astronomers, physicists are interested in black holes because they’re a laboratory for “quantum gravity”. Black holes are described by Albert Einstein’s general relativity, which is our modern theory of gravity, but the other forces of nature are described by quantum physics. So far, nobody has developed a complete quantum gravity theory, but we already know black holes will be an important test of any proposed theory.

The first image of a black hole in human history, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, showing light emitted by matter as it swirls under the influence of intense gravity. This black hole is 6.5 billion times the mass of the Sun and resides at the center of the galaxy M87.

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NASA Astrophysics

In the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), the Astrophysics Division studies the universe.

The universe is everything. It includes all of space, matter, energy, time, and you.

NASA’s Astrophysics Division is dedicated to exploring the universe, pushing the boundaries of what is known of the cosmos, and sharing its discoveries with the world. The Division continues expanding humanity’s understanding of how the universe began and evolved, how it works, and whether there are places beyond Earth where life might thrive. By working together with collaborators and academic partners from all over the world, NASA researchers are making progress towards addressing these tantalizing scientific goals with leading-edge technologies and groundbreaking science.

How does the universe work?

Probe the origin and destiny of our universe, including the nature of black holes, dark energy, dark matter and gravity.

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Explore the origin and evolution of the galaxies, stars and planets that make up our universe.

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Discover and study planets around other stars, and explore whether they could harbor life.

Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 (Astro2020)

The National Academies have completed their work on the 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Please visit the National Academies Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 web page for additional information about survey and their published documents on the topic.

Current Programs

Astrophysics comprises of three focused and two cross-cutting programs. These focused programs provide an intellectual framework for advancing science and conducting strategic planning.

• Physics of the Cosmos
• Cosmic Origins
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• Astrophysics Explorer Program
• Astrophysics Research

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Webb is celebrating one year of incredible discoveries, from exoplanets to the early Universe.

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Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Roman Space Telescope

Roman is designed to settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics.

Current Missions

The Astrophysics current missions include two of the Great Observatories originally planned in the 1980s and launched over the past 30 years. The current suite of operational missions include the Hubble Space Telescope , the Chandra X-ray Observatory , and the James Webb Space Telescope . Additionally, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope explores the high-energy end of the spectrum. Innovative Explorer missions, such as the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory , NuSTAR , TESS , and IXPE , as well as NICER , complement the Astrophysics strategic missions. SOFIA , an airborne observatory for infrared astronomy, is in its extended mission phase. All of the missions together account for much of humanity's accumulated knowledge of the heavens. Many of these missions have achieved their prime science goals, but continue to produce spectacular results in their extended operations.

NASA-funded investigators also participate in observations, data analysis and developed instruments for the astrophysics missions of our international partners, including ESA's XMM-Newton .

Near Future

The near future will be dominated by several missions. Currently in development, are ESA's Euclid mission which will fly NASA furnished detectors and JAXA's XRISM (X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy) mission which uses NASA furnished technologies that will help provide breakthroughs in the study of structure formation of the universe, outflows from galaxy nuclei, and dark matter.

Completing the missions in development, supporting the operational missions, and funding the research and analysis programs will consume most of the Astrophysics Division resources.

In October 2021, NASA selected a new Explorer Mission, the gamma-ray telescope COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager). COSI will study the recent history of star birth, star death, and the formation of chemical elements in the Milky Way.

In March 2017, NASA selected the Explorer Mission of Opportunity GUSTO (Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory) to measure emissions from the interstellar medium to help scientists determine the life cycle of interstellar gas in our Milky Way, witness the formation and destruction of star-forming clouds, and understand the dynamics and gas flow in the vicinity of the center of our galaxy.

In February 2016, NASA formally started the top Astro2010 decadal recommendation, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). In spring of 2020, WFIRST was renamed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman will aid researchers in their efforts to unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, and explore the evolution of the cosmos. It will also discover new worlds outside our solar system and advance the search for worlds that could be suitable for life.

Since the 2001 decadal survey, the way the universe is viewed has changed dramatically. More than 3800 planets have been discovered orbiting distant stars. Black holes are now known to be present at the center of most galaxies, including the Milky Way galaxy. The age, size and shape of the universe have been mapped based on the primordial radiation left by the big bang. And it has been learned that most of the matter in the universe is dark and invisible, and the universe is not only expanding, but accelerating in an unexpected way.

For the long term future, the Astrophysics goals will be guided based on the results of the 2020 Decadal survey Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s . It identifies the most compelling science goals and presents an ambitious program of ground- and space-based activities for future investment. The report recommends critical near-term actions to support the foundations of the profession as well as the technologies and tools needed to carry out the science.

In 2012 the Astrophysics Implementation Plan was released which describes the activities currently being undertaken in response to the decadal survey recommendations within the current budgetary constraints. The plan was updated in 2014, 2016, and in 2018.

The Astrophysics roadmap Enduring Quests, Daring Visions was developed by a task force of the Astrophysics Subcommittee (APS) in 2013. The Roadmap presents a 30-year vision for astrophysics using the most recent decadal survey as the starting point.

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The Current State of Astronomy Research, Summarized in 573 Papers

5 June 2019

What are the big topics in astronomy research that we’ll be working to address in the next decade? No need to pull out a crystal ball … astronomers have a pretty good guess, and they’ve shared what they think in  a series of white papers  that are part of the 2020 Decadal Survey.

What’s a Decadal Survey?

The  Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics (otherwise known as Astro2020)  is a process that occurs once every 10 years under the oversight of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. During this process, the astronomy community comes together to summarize the current state of the field and identify key priorities for the upcoming decade. These recommendations then serve as a guide for scientists, policy makers, and funding agencies over the next 10 years.

How Does It Work?

Astro2020 begins with various calls for “white papers”, brief write-ups to be submitted by individuals or collaborations within the astronomy community. These white papers are next reviewed by a  steering committee  made up of prominent members of the astronomy community. Finally, the committee — with input from topical panels, subcommittees, town halls, and more — composes a report that describes the current state of the field, identifies research priorities, and makes recommendations for the next decade.

What’s Happening Now?

The  first Astro2020 white-paper call  closed in March. The assignment:  “succinctly identify new science opportunities and compelling science themes, place those in the broader international scientific context, and describe the key advances in observation, experiment, and/or theory necessary to realize those scientific opportunities within the decade 2020-2030.”

The result? A  collection of 573 white papers  from the community that beautifully summarizes the most interesting research questions that are driving the field forward at this time. Want a glimpse of what’s interesting in astronomy right now? All you have to do is look through these papers to get a very good idea.

This Decadal Survey, for the first time, the American Astronomical Society is collecting the submitted white papers and making them available in a central location: the  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society . A list of all 573 science white papers has been published there, with titles, authors, and the paper PDFs (for those authors who did not opt out of publication). Each paper is also indexed in the SAO/NASA  Astrophysics Data System  so that it can be found and cited in the future.

How About a Brief Sample?

Astronomy is an enormous field, and these white papers prove it. Below is a tiny sample of papers covering each of the eight primary thematic science areas (plus two bonus interdisciplinary ones).

• Interdisciplinary •  Astrophysical Science enabled by Laboratory Astrophysics Studies in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Physics •  The Next Decade of Astroinformatics and Astrostatistics

What Comes Next?

We’re nowhere near done yet! The papers published now were submitted to the call for science white papers in March. At present, there’s another call open for white papers on activities, projects, and the state of the profession, with a deadline of 10 July. All of these white papers will be included in the BAAS as well. Check back for those later this year, and keep an ear to the ground as the year progresses for more news from Astro2020.

The full set of Astro2020 science white papers can be found on the  BAAS website .

Originally published by Susanna Kohler at https://aas.org/posts/news/2019/06/current-state-astronomy-research-summarized-573-papers

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• Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology

Calculating and modeling the physics of the cosmos. First objects in the universe, relativistic astrophysics, neutron stars, black holes, inflation, cosmic evolution and structure.

Current research in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology at Stanford explores a wide range of critical questions. Major topics include numerical simulations of the formation of structure from small scales (first stars) to large scales (dark matter structure), galaxy formation, black holes (evolution, jets, accretion disks and orbiting objects), neutron stars (pulsars, magnetars), particle acceleration (relativistic shocks, origin of cosmic rays), gravitational lensing, and the very early universe (inflation).

See the section on  Observational & Experimental Astrophysics and Cosmology  for a description of how scientists at Stanford are probing many of these questions with experiments and telescopes.

The  Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology , housed in the the Fred Kavli Building at  SLAC  and the Physics & Astrophysics Building and the Varian Physics Laboratories on campus, hosts much of the research in astrophysics and cosmology at Stanford and SLAC. Scientists meet through twice-weekly  Tea Talks , a weekly  Cosmology Seminar  and a weekly  Astrophysics Colloquium . There are also close ties with the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics ( SITP ) and the  SLAC Theory Group .

Related Faculty

Roger Blandford

Susan E. Clark

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Andrei Linde

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Vahe Petrosian

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Roger Romani

Eva Silverstein

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Risa Wechsler

• Galaxy Formation & Cosmology Group

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154 hot astronomy research topics for a-grade papers.

Do you have a college astronomy paper or essay and have been wondering how to get the best topic? You might also be stuck with the paper, wondering how to go about it.

The truth about astronomy is that getting interesting space topics is never easy, but how do you address the challenge? There is no need to worry anymore because we are here to help.

In this post, we list 154 astronomy paper topics and further highlight the traits of a great research paper. Why get content with standard or low-quality paper when you can get the best in your class by checking out the guide and topics, as well as getting lab report help ?

What Is Astronomy?

Before looking at the leading space science topics for your university assignment, let’s start with the definition. Astronomy is the study concerned with researching and understanding everything that takes place beyond the earth’s atmosphere. Although the advances in technology, especially on telescopes, satellites, and manned space vehicles, have helped people to peep deeper into space, this is just a scratch on the surface. There is a lot more waiting to be explored, including the controversial question, “Is there life on other planets?”

Characteristics Of A Good Astronomy Research Paper

From the definition of astronomy, it is clear that you can have a long list of astronomy project topics or ideas. Once you have picked the preferred option from our research topics in cosmology, the next step is preparing your paper. Here are the main characteristics of a good school research paper in astronomy:

• Systematic: This means that your research paper should be structured per clearly defined rules. So, students should start by reviewing requirements by their professors or teachers and think creatively of how to make their papers professional.
• Logical: This implies that the student carefully reasons all the points to ensure they support the selected topic. Although there is so much one can write on a specific topic, you must narrow it down to those points that are current and that support your topic.
• Comprehensive: Your paper also needs to be as comprehensive as possible. So, you must exhaustively identify the core points in a selected topic. It should also fit well in the current literature on the same topic, helping to advance the discipline.
• Plagiarism-Free: All universities out there have very strict rules on plagiarism. Therefore, your work must be 100% original.
• Clearly flowing points and free from errors: Finally, your paper should be arranged well to ensure that all the points flow logically from the start to the end. Again, it should be proofread to ensure it is free from errors.

Best Astronomy Essay Topics

Now that we have looked at the main characteristics of a high quality astronomy paper or essay, it is time to dig deeper into the main topics. Check out our list of the leading astronomy research topics for top grades.

Top Astronomy Research Topics

• What is the future of space exploration?
• A closer review of the big bang theory.
• Compare two theories that explain the origin of the universe.
• Stephen Hawking theories.
• Space Challenger disaster: What are the sociological impacts?
• A review of the recent space exploration breakthroughs.
• The moon landing.
• The Mars landing of space rovers.
• A deeper look at the history of astronomy.
• Reviewing the heliocentric model of the galaxy.
• Analyzing the lifecycle of a star.
• What impact does the moon have on the earth?
• Space debris and its impact on the solar system.
• What impact do humans have on the solar system?
• The rise of space tourism: What impact will it have on space exploration?
• Is space tourism a good thing?
• What could go wrong with space tourism?
• Space manufacturing: Is it a good thing?
• The mythologies associated with heavenly bodies.
• What impact do the stars have on earth?

Unique Astronomy Research Paper Topics

• A review of the Hubble telescope.
• A closer look at the Haley’s comet.
• Through the mind of early astronomers: Galileo Aristotle, and Ptolemy.
• What are the advantages of exploring space?
• The race to explore space and the cold war.
• Reviewing the first astronauts to visit the moon.
• What lessons did NASA learn from its first mission to the moon?
• Can life exist on the moon?
• What is the biggest difference between earth and moon?
• Explaining the earth’s outlook as viewed from space.
• The design of space vehicles: Are the modern models riskier compared to those used in the 20th century?
• What impact will private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have in astronomy?
• If we have a space station where scientists travel often, is the idea of space hotels far-fetched? A closer look at Blue Origin’s idea of a space hotel.
• Looking beyond the Milky Way.
• A review of Pluto: How does it compare to other planets?
• How does earth compare to Jupiter?
• Explain the sun’s source of heat and light for millions of years.
• Analyzing the rings of Saturn.
• A review of astronauts physical and health preparedness before setting off for space exploration.
• What effects does long stay in space have on the human body?
• What can astronauts do to reduce the danger of muscle atrophy?
• Zero gravity in space.

Awesome Astronomy Topics To Write About

• What are wormholes?
• A review of the evolution of space exploration changes in history.
• Speed of light travel: what are the implications?
• A closer look at time travel: Theory versus fiction.
• Zero gravity: What impact does it have on astronauts’ health over time?
• The interdisciplinary perspectives of space.
• Astrophysics: A review of the main controversies.
• Explore the possibility of having life on other planets.
• What implications would life on other planets have on planet earth?
• Think of yourself as an astronaut: What would be your reaction upon encounter with aliens?
• Stars and how people use them for navigation.
• Comparing different theories that explain the origin of life on planet earth.
• Space weather.
• How does space weather compare to the earth’s weather?
• Global warming: An astronaut’s view.
• The sun and its relationship with the earth.
• Comparing the sun’s relationship with Saturn and Pluto.
• Robotic space exploration: Is it a good idea?
• Constellations: A review of human interpretations.
• A review of emerging business opportunities in space.
• Space travel for non-astronauts: Is it a good idea?
• Comparing space travelling scientists to tourists: What is the difference?

Engaging Space Research Paper Topics

• What is the difference between planets and asteroids?
• How did the “northern lights” come about?
• Capture hypothesis: A review.
• What caused the Challenger to explode after take-off?
• The challenger shuttle disaster: A review of the preparations.
• What lessons did we learn from the challenger disaster?
• Was the Challenger the greatest failure in NASA’s history?
• Analyzing President Ronald Reagan’s speech after the Challenger disaster.
• Space Challenger disaster analysis: Why we are on the blink of another bigger and deadlier disaster.
• Are the current space policies ample to guide the new era of space travel?
• Dennis Tito: Looking at the experience of the first space tourists.
• Space politics: Is competition a good thing when it comes to space exploration?
• Reimagining the space: What would happen if we suddenly discovered that it was possible to inhabit the moon?
• Space will form the next generation combat zone for superpowers in competition for new resources.
• Factoring the distance and other logistics: Would mining in space be viable?

Great Space Exploration Topics

• A review of three biggest planets that orbit outside the solar system.
• Comparing the characteristics of gas planets to terrestrial planets.
• Fission Hypothesis by George Darwin.
• A review of the Giant Impact Theory.
• Exploring the theories that explain the origin of the moon.
• How long does it take for a new planet to form?
• Imagining a Marxist society living on Mars.
• Exploring the process of formation of the biggest stars in the cosmos.
• Is it possible for light to escape from the black hole?
• Determining the moon’s diameter: How accurate is the method used for calculation?
• Is the Big Bang Theory the best explanation of the origin of the universe?
• Reviewing the fate of the universe.
• Gravitational waves: Why their discovery is so important.
• Monitoring the State of the Environment using Ecologically Clean devices.
• Reviewing the doctrine of Noosphere.
• The legends of Starry Sky.
• The importance of mathematics in space explorations.

Astrophysics Research Topics For Debate

• Relativity theory and gravity.
• What is a variable star?
• Gravity and eclipse.
• Venus: Reviewing its formation.
• The mass of matter and nebulae.
• The Big Bang Theory.
• Brown Dwarf.
• Space manufacturing: What materials and products are manufactured in space?
• What happens during a solar eclipse?
• Celestial mechanics.
• Manned space shuttles.

Discussion Topics In Astronomy

• A thematic review of the heliocentric theory.
• The conflicting theories on the origin of the earth: science versus religion.
• Expecting the worst: What could go wrong with space missions?
• Is the cost and effort for space exploration worth it?
• Beyond the visible universe: What should we expect?
• How does the lunar cycle function?
• The dimensions of light in space: How does it differ after entering the earth’s atmosphere?
• What is astrophysics?
• Nonlinear, slow mode, and fast mode effects.
• Grand unification theories.
• What impact does the moon have on the oceans?
• The longitudes and latitudes of the earth.
• What are the different types of stars?
• The formation and destruction of clouds in the Galaxies.
• Meridian and transit circles: What are they?
• The galaxy cluster growth.
• A review of the molecular cloud.

Investigative Astrophysics Research Topics

• How long does it take to travel to space?
• Which is the most prominent of all planets? Is it earth?
• Survival on other planets? How to make it possible.
• Pluto should not be considered another planet: Discuss.
• Journey to Mars: Should we open it to all?
• Comparing the journeys to the International Space Station (ISS) and the Moon.
• Space keeps expanding: Explain.
• The best defense against killer asteroids.
• How to relate interplanetary matter with space activities.
• The 2012 transit of Venus: A detailed review.
• What do astronauts eat when travelling to space?

Controversial Astronomy Topics For Research Paper

• Militarization of space: Is it avoidable?
• Asteroid mining: Is it a good idea?
• A review of space exploration issues and connection to women.
• State exploration is very important: Approve or disapprove this statement.
• Colonizing other planets: Is it ethical?
• Terraforming on Mars.
• The security challenges of space explorations.
• Space exploration: Does it have any impacts on planet earth.
• Using VR and AR should replace humans for space explorations.

Other Cool Astronomy Topics

• The impact of the sun on water bodies.
• Interstellar extinction: What is the cause?
• What is the deep impact mission?
• Essential requirements for space travel.
• Preparing for space travel.
• Is there an earth-like planet that is habitable?
• Solar systems with two stars: How do they operate?
• Comparing the preparation for space tourists and astronauts.
• Where do asteroids come from?
• What is antimatter?

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Astrochemistry articles from across Nature Portfolio

Astrochemistry is the study of the composition and reactions of atoms, molecules and ions in space. The topic includes the gathering of spectroscopic information from ground-, air- and space-based observatories, lab-based studies that replicate the harsh environments of space and modelling.

Latest Research and Reviews

Direct production of molecular oxygen from carbon dioxide and helium ion collisions

The abiotic production of molecular oxygen in carbon dioxide-rich planetary atmospheres is important in understanding astrochemical reactions and potentially the origin of life on Earth. Here, the authors demonstrate that the low-energy reaction between helium ions, as found in solar winds, and carbon dioxide produces molecular oxygen.

• Shan Xi Tian

Reply to: A discrepancy of 10 7 in experimental and theoretical density detection limits of aerosol particles by surface nonlinear light scattering

• Jesse B. Brown

Atmospheric reaction of hydrazine plus hydroxyl radical

• Hamed Douroudgari
• Morteza Vahedpour
• Fahime Khouini

Ultraviolet spectroscopy of pressurized and supercritical carbon dioxide

CO 2 is prominent in the Earth’s and exoplanetary atmospheres, but its excited state photochemistry is not yet fully understood. Here the authors identify gradual quenching of the diffuse vibrational structure in supercritical CO 2 electronic spectra under pressures up to 137 bar.

• Timothy W. Marin
• Ireneusz Janik

Direct observation of long-lived cyanide anions in superexcited states

Cyanide anions exist in interstellar space, but the vibrationally or electronically excited states above the electron autodetachment threshold of CN - are assumed to have no contributions to cosmic CN - . Here, the authors report long-lived, superexcited CN - from the dissociative electron attachment to cyanogen bromide.

• Xiao-Fei Gao
• Jing-Chen Xie

Formation of H 3 + from ethane dication induced by electron impact

H 3 +  has great astronomical significance, but its formation mechanisms are not fully understood. Here a combined experimental and theoretical study of H 3 + formation dynamics from ethane dications shows that roaming occurs at a much longer timescale than the transition state, and is accompanied by nuclear motion of larger amplitudes.

News and Comment

Cosmic recipe book updated.

Diagnosing grain growth in a dense cloud with JWST

The size distribution of solid grains in dense clouds is a key parameter to constrain in order to understand grain growth, which influences the nature and timescale of the formation of protoplanets. A JWST study has quantified the grain size distribution by modelling the spectral absorptions arising from ice components of grains before protostellar collapse.

• Burcu Günay

Carbon on the move

In the interstellar medium, complex organic molecules are believed to form on icy dust grains in dark molecular clouds. Research now shows that carbon atoms, previously considered immobile, can diffuse across ice surfaces to take part in reactions with other adsorbed species.

• Stephanie Greed

Settling a cosmic metal debate

A nearby galaxy provides a clue for resolving a long-standing issue in the way we measure elemental abundances from spectra, setting the stage for better interpreting the chemical evolution of galaxies across different cosmic epochs.

• Mirko Curti

JWST takes stock of the freezer

Beyond Hubble

Sit back and settle in for a tour of the chemical analysis instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope and the techniques being used to explore the planets beyond our Solar System.

• Bruce C. Gibb

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