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This illustration shows a black field speckled with white, yellow and red galaxies. A black hole, near the left, bottom corner of the image, plows through space, leaving a diagonal trail of newborn stars stretching back to the black hole's parent galaxy.
James Webb telescope confirms a supermassive black hole running away from its host galaxy at 2 million mph, researchers say JWST peered at the glowing trail of stars left behind by a candidate runaway supermassive black hole deep in space, revealing new insights after other telescopes looked at the event.
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A region of space mostly filled with background galaxies, with one prominent star at upper left. A large blob of purple haze occupies much of the field. Within the purple region, an unremarkable area is outlined with a dashed white circle.
Hubble telescope discovers 'Cloud-9,' a dark and rare 'failed galaxy' that's unlike anything seen before Astronomers have revealed a new type of cosmic object called Cloud-9 — a dim, starless gas cloud anchored by a massive dark matter halo that may be the first-confirmed failed galaxy.
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A photo of the exploding sun with an inset photo showing the giant sunspot that caused it
Giant sunspot that triggered recent solar 'superstorm' shot out nearly 1,000 flares and a secret X-rated explosion, record-breaking study reveals The massive sunspot that sparked an "extreme" geomagnetic storm in May 2024 unleashed hundreds of other dangerous solar flares, including a hidden X-class outburst, a new paper reveals. The study sets a record for the longest continuous observation of a single active region on our home star.

Latest about Space

Photograph of a full moon.

January 'Wolf Supermoon': How to see the full moon rise with Jupiter this weekend

By Jamie Carter published

The first full moon of 2026 and of winter in the Northern Hemisphere will shine brightly this week, just as Earth makes its annual closest approach to the sun.

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Space

Full moons of 2026: When to see all 13 moons rise next year

By Jamie Carter published

When does the next full moon rise? Find out exactly when to see the full moons of 2026, including the full "Wolf Moon" supermoon in January.

The Moon
Shooting star above a snow mountain.

Quadrantid meteor shower peaks this week: How to see the first 'shooting' stars of the year

By Jamie Carter published

The Quadrantids will be harder to see than usual due to the bright full moon. Here's how to get the best views.

Astronomy
Following Shot of Brave Astronaut in Space Suit Confidently Walking on Mars Towards Earth Planet. Earth Planet as viewed from Mars surface. The surface of Mars, strewn with small rocks and red sand.

Should humans colonize other planets?

By Elise Poore published

As space travel advances, colonization of other planets edges closer to reality. But should we spread to other parts of the galaxy?

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Space Exploration

Tractor beams inspired by sci-fi are real, and could solve the looming space junk problem

By Harry Baker published

Researchers are developing a real-life tractor beam, with the goal of pulling defunct satellites out of geostationary orbit to alleviate the space junk problem.

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Space Exploration
Composite image of the star-forming region NGC 1333 obtained by combining data from the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope and the Digitized Sky Survey.

Stunning array of 400 rings in a 'reflection' nebula solves a 30-year-old star-formation mystery — Space photo of the week

By Jamie Carter published

The discovery is the first direct observational confirmation of a theory for how young stars feed on, and then explosively expel, surrounding material.

Space
Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) shows the Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) region in mid-infrared light, with warm dust glowing brightly. To the right is one clump of clouds that captured astronomers’ attention.

James Webb telescope spies a monstrous molecular cloud shrouded in mystery — Space photo of the week

By Shreejaya Karantha published

In this James Webb telescope image, the gigantic molecular cloud near our galaxy's center appears as a canvas of pink and purple clouds set against a shadowy backdrop.

Astronomy
This illustration lays a depiction of the sun's magnetic fields over an image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on March 12, 2016.

Is the sun really a dwarf star?

By Charles Q. Choi published

Our sun is huge, at least compared to Earth and the other planets. So is it really a dwarf?

The Sun

Uranus and Neptune may be 'rock giants,' not 'ice giants,' new model of their cores suggests

By Mason Wakley published

A new computational model suggests that Uranus' and Neptune's cores may be less icy than their "ice giant" nickname suggests.

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Planets
man holding a lantern on a rock formation under orion

The easiest constellations for beginners to spot in winter (and what you need to see them)

By Jamie Carter published

From Orion and Taurus to Auriga and Perseus, here are 10 easy sets of stars to find in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter night sky.

Space
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