Optics

Telescopes in space give us a view we literally cannot get from the ground

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

In colorful photographs of galaxies, stars, planets, and more, what you see isn’t necessarily what you get

With radio and infrared telescopes, astronomers can pierce the dusty veil of our galaxy and map its farthest reaches

Barnard 68 is often mistaken for a hole in space, but it’s actually a dense, opaque cloud of dust—for now

“Twilight rays” are but one of several viewing treats for the liminal time between day and night

Called Olbers’ paradox, the seemingly simple mystery of the sky’s darkness is something that stumped astronomers for centuries

A science photo book probes the colors we can see—and even “forbidden” colors we can’t

The rising moon looks huge on the horizon, but it’s all in your head

The famous exploding star T Coronae Borealis is due to detonate any day now, but it’s running a little late

The spin of a particle seems to detach and move without a body—a strange experimental observation that’s stirring up debate

New research harnessed the highly absorbent dye tartrazine, used as the common food coloring Yellow No. 5, to turn tissues in living mice clear—temporarily revealing organs and vessels inside the animals