When did the first galaxies form? Earlier than we thought possible

Many millions of years after the big bang, a point of light arose in a dark…

Astronomers uncover the topsy-turvy atmosphere of a distant planet

The three layers of the atmosphere of the gas giant Tylos ESO/M. Kornmesser The atmosphere of…

When did time begin? Hint: It wasn’t at the big bang

NASA/Adboe Stock/ Ryan Wills Our universe is expanding, so it must have been smaller in the…

Asteroid 2024 YR4: Odds of collision with Earth in 2032 have reached new high

An artist’s impression of what asteroid 2024 YR4 could look like as it approaches Earth in…

Meet the man who single-handedly tracks every spaceflight mission ever

Jonathan McDowell with some of his extensive space archive MAX ALEXANDER Jonathan McDowell has been a…

Tiny dwarf galaxy might house a supermassive black hole

The Large Magellanic Cloud may have its own supermassive black hole Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group via…

Maybe NASA’s SLS should be cancelled – but not by Elon Musk

The Space Launch System at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2022 NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA’s enormous…

There’s a tiny chance the asteroid headed for Earth could hit the moon

Artist’s impression of an asteroid nearing the moon NASA/JPL-Caltech Asteroid 2024 YR4 is on a potential…

Distant exoplanet may be the most volcanic world ever found

Illustration of the volcanic exoplanet L 98-59 b NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center An alien world…

How meteorites are rewriting the history of the solar system

What can extraterrestrial stones reveal? Shutterstock/Swill Klitch The following is an extract from our monthly Launchpad…