
What’s the biggest galaxy in the universe?
Deep surveys of the sky have turned up galaxies vastly larger than our own. Are there even bigger ones yet to be seen?

What’s the biggest galaxy in the universe?
Deep surveys of the sky have turned up galaxies vastly larger than our own. Are there even bigger ones yet to be seen?

The universe could have 18 possible shapes
Our universe appears flat—but this observation still leaves plenty of options for its true shape. In fact, our cosmos could resemble a donut


This baby galaxy is a ‘missing link’ in the quest to glimpse the universe’s first stars
Seen just 800 million years after the big bang, an object called LAP1-B is a galactic building block that seems to hold some of the first stars to ever shine

‘Touchy-feely’ dark matter is having a moment
Models giving dark matter more complex behavior could help solve multiple cosmic mysteries

Astronomers puzzle over early origins of mysterious ‘red monster’ galaxy
Researchers are perplexed by a galaxy that seems too large and too dusty for its place in cosmic history, less than a half-billion years after the big bang

How Star Trek, Missy Elliott and queer theory help explain the deepest questions in physics
A physicist explores how poetry, pop culture and imagination help us understand spacetime and our place in the universe

NASA’s Artemis moon missions are a game changer for astronomy
After decades of planning, NASA’s Artemis program is giving astronomers their long-awaited moonshot

Where did the ‘Oh-My-God’ particle come from?
A single subatomic particle from deep space had the same energy as a baseball pitch, and scientists still don’t know how it got here

We thought we knew the shape of the universe. We were wrong
Decades of data have suggested the universe is flat, much like an infinite plane. But a new analysis reveals deep flaws in that simple conclusion

Did the very young universe make swarms of tiny black holes?
Long ago, the cosmos might have been a black hole factory—and these primordial objects are even weirder than you think

Earth’s magnetic field may be more powerful than we thought
A major defense against everything space throws at us, Earth’s magnetic field may even protect the moon from damaging galactic cosmic rays

What’s the most massive star in the universe?
Just how big can a star become? The answer depends on when in cosmic history you’re asking the question