Universe

This planet triggers flares on its star—spelling its ultimate doom

Gaia, Europe’s Milky Way–mapping spacecraft, shut down earlier this year. It was arguably the most important—and most overlooked—astronomy project of the 21st century

A near-complete census of our interstellar neighborhood hopes to answer how stars, brown dwarfs and rogue planets form throughout the universe

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

NASA’s astrobiology ambitions are at risk of collapsing under the White House’s proposed budget. But your voice can make a difference

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

Galaxies come in many shapes and sizes, and trying to define them is difficult

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

Amid harsh cuts, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the nearly ready-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

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

After netting the world’s highest-paying science award, preeminent theoretical physicist Gerard ’t Hooft reflects on his legacy and the future of physics