Why Mars has captured our hopes and fears for millennia

From being the celestial embodiment of warrior gods to housing canal-digging aliens, Mars has uniquely endured…

The extraordinary JWST is named for James Webb, whose legacy I deplore

James Webb’s legacy was to stand for a status quo where queer Black people like me…

Neutron stars may fire out neutrino beams like a laser light show

Neutron stars cool down by emitting neutrinos. A mathematical model now suggests the neutrinos come out…

Bacteria could survive just under Mars's surface for 280 million years

When bacteria are dried and frozen, as they most likely would be just under the surface…

The hunt for habitable ocean worlds beyond our solar system

Astronomers think that planets covered in water, with oceans hundreds of metres deep, could be relatively…

Lightest neutron star ever found could contain compressed quarks

A neutron star that is lighter than seems possible could be so small because it is…

JWST spots smallest galaxy outside our local universe

The James Webb Space Telescope has glimpsed the smallest galaxy outside our local universe – and…

Hayabusa 2 has brought back gases from an asteroid for the first time

Gases brought back from the asteroid Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft are revealing the asteroid’s…

JWST has taken a star-studded new image of the Pillars of Creation

The Pillars of Creation are huge towers of gas and dust where stars are born, and…

Astronomers have just watched the most powerful explosion ever seen

A gamma ray burst about 2.4 billion light years away is being called “the BOAT” –…