Out There: Is Earth All by Its Lonesome? Kepler Finds 4,034 Possible Companions

Setting the stage for the next chapter in the quest to end cosmic loneliness, astronomers released…

Cosmic Vibrations Felt From Black-Hole Merger 3 Billion Light-Years Away

This is the third black-hole smashup that astronomers have detected since they started keeping watch on…

A Light for Science, and Cooperation, in the Middle East

The Sesame detector will use synchrotron light to study materials ranging from exotic semiconductors to viruses.

Gary Steigman, Who Teased Out the Universe’s Dark Secrets, Dies at 76

Dr. Steigman helped show that most matter in the universe was not made of atoms, a…

Out There: Cassini’s Grand Finale: A Dive Between Saturn and Its Rings

The spacecraft is set to venture into the gap between Saturn and its innermost ring 22…

A New Exoplanet May Be Most Promising Yet in Search for Life

The planet, about 40 light years from Earth, is close enough that astronomers hope they will…

Out There: ‘Genius’ Unravels the Mysteries of Einstein’s Universe

A new series on the National Geographic Channel introduces viewers to the man behind the cuddly…

Trilobites: A Mysterious Flash From a Faraway Galaxy

Astronomers are puzzled by X-rays that for a brief time were a thousand times brighter than…

Ron Drever, Physicist Who Helped Confirm Einstein Theory, Dies at 85

Dr. Drever, a Scotsman long associated with Caltech, played a key role in the detection of…

Our Universe’s Very Dusty Early, Early Beginnings

Far away, in a constellation called Sculptor, astronomers have glimpsed the universe’s oldest dust. It’s 13.2…