Jonathan O'Callaghan is an award-winning freelance journalist covering astronomy, astrophysics, commercial spaceflight and space exploration. Follow him on X @Astro_Jonny
Astronomers Spy Jets Spewing from Megacomet Zooming through the Solar System
Recent observations have revealed carbon monoxide venting from the largest comet ever seen, providing clues about its origins in the mysterious depths of the outer solar system
What the Amazon versus SpaceX Satellite Mega Constellation War Means for Earth
Amazon has launched its first operational Project Kuiper satellites in its attempt to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink—but experts remain concerned about space debris and astronomy
JWST’s Next Year of Amazing Science Revealed—As Funding Worries Loom Large
The next year of science on the James Webb Space Telescope has been announced amid mounting budgetary uncertainty that could affect the unparalleled observatory
Newfound Asteroid May Hit Earth in 2032, Scientists Say
The possibility of the asteroid 2024 YR4 impacting our planet might not be ruled out until 2028, raising the prospect we’ll need to prepare for the worst
Earth Sings with Mysterious Chorus Waves—And Deep Space Does, Too
Peculiar bursts of energy called chorus waves have been detected in deep space far from our planet, suggesting they could pose problems for long-distance space travel
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Preps for Record-Breaking Christmas Eve Flyby
The Parker Solar Probe will swoop just 6.1 million kilometers above the sun’s surface on Christmas Eve. Scientists are thrilled at what we might learn
Famous Star Hasn’t Formed Planets, and We Don’t Know Why
The nearby star Vega, featured in the 1997 movie Contact, appears to have a smooth disk devoid of giant planets for reasons we can’t explain
Fastest Known Planetary System Might Have Been Pushed by Our Galaxy’s Supermassive Black Hole
This blazingly fast star is shooting through the Milky Way with a planet in tow
Scientists Nuke an Asteroid in a Lab Mock-Up
Experiment shows that a nuclear explosion could save the planet from a deadly asteroid impact
Supernova Slowdowns Confirm Einstein’s Predictions of Time Dilation
Analyzing 1,504 supernovae into the distant universe, astronomers have shown the clearest evidence yet for cosmological time dilation as predicted by Einstein
The Strongest Solar Storm in 20 Years Did Little Damage, but Worse Space Weather Is Coming
Years of careful planning helped safeguard against last weekend’s severe space weather, but we still don’t know how we’d cope with a monster event
SpaceX’s Starship Could Save NASA’s Beleaguered Mars Sample Return Mission
Facing budgetary pressure for its Mars Sample Return program, NASA has turned to private industry for ideas—perhaps with one specific company in mind
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
‘Interstellar’ Meteor Signal May Have Been a Truck—So What Was Collected from the Ocean Floor?
New analyses cast doubt on claims that a meteor witnessed over the South Pacific in 2014 came from another star system and raise questions about a high-profile expedition to recover the fireball’s fragments from the seafloor
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
JWST Solves Decades-Old Mystery of Nearby Supernova
Scientists have finally found the compact object at the heart of the famous supernova of 1987, and it’s not a black hole
Space Lasers Will Seek a New Kind of Gravitational Waves
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will open a new era in astronomy that brings scientists to the brink of studying gravitational waves from the beginning of time
JWST’s Puzzling Early Galaxies Bend Astrophysics
Rather than ripping up our fundamental models of the universe, the unexpectedly big and bright galaxies spied in the early universe by JWST probably have astrophysical explanations
Japan Reaches the Moon, but the Fate of Its Precision Lander Is Uncertain
Japan’s SLIM precision-landing spacecraft—a potential game-changer for upcoming lunar exploration—may expire on the moon before fulfilling its mission
Bizarre Dark Object Could Be First-Known ‘Empty’ Galaxy from the Early Universe
A serendipitously discovered object nearly as massive as the Milky Way appears to be made of primordial gas that has formed almost no stars
The Science of 2024’s Epic Solar Eclipse, the Last for a Generation
Unique studies of gravity waves, atmospheric holes and dazzling coronal displays will accompany April’s total solar eclipse across the U.S., Mexico and Canada
In the Search for Life beyond Earth, NASA Dreams Big for a Future Space Telescope
Astronomers are moving ahead in planning NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, a telescope designed to answer the ultimate question: Are we alone in the universe?
The Second Most Powerful Cosmic Ray in History Came from—Nowhere?
Amaterasu—the most powerful cosmic ray seen in three decades—seems to come from an empty point of the sky. New telescopes may solve the mystery of its origins
Mysterious ‘Tasmanian Devil’ Space Explosion Baffles Astronomers
Scientists still can’t explain what is causing unusually bright explosions in space—but a surprising observation might offer clues