A distant galaxy’s black hole seen to flare unexpectedly

Astronomers have a new name for these sorts of flares from supermassive black holes in distant galaxies: they’re calling them quasi-periodic eruptions. “Giant black holes regularly flicker like a candle but the rapid, repeating changes seen in GSN 069 from December onwards are something completely new,” said one scientist.

Astronomers spy a 2nd interstellar visitor

Astronomers think the object they’ve labeled C/2019 Q4 – discovered August 30 – came from a place far, far away. If confirmed, it’s only the 2nd interstellar object ever detected, after ‘Oumuamua in 2017.

Scientists thrilled to find water vapor in exoplanet's atmosphere

The forecast for the planet known as K2-18b is rain. With a chance of life. And although it’s a slim chance, a newly published international study suggests the planet is literally drenched in potential. Not only did researchers detect water…

Scientists Detect Tone Pattern in the Ringing of a Newborn Black Hole for the First Time, Proving Einstein Right Again

100 years after Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, scientists have confirmed that he was right about black holes—again.

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Scientists detect towering balloon-like feature near Milky Way’s center

It’s a huge bipolar structure, centered on the galactic center and near the central supermassive black hole. In that way, it’s like the Fermi Bubbles, found some years ago. But … there are differences.

Scientists detect water vapor on distant exoplanet

Whoa! It’s a first-ever detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of a potentially habitable super-Earth, located 110 light-years away. The discovery supports the possibility that our galaxy contains many such habitable worlds.

Did underground explosions create Titan’s lakes?

The lakes on Saturn’s moon Titan are filled with liquid methane, not water, and some are surrounded by steep rims. A new study suggests these features might have been caused by explosions of warming nitrogen, which created Titan’s lake basins long ago.

Shedding light on black holes

How much of what think you know about black holes is true, and how much is myth? To separate fact from fiction, check out this 4-minute vIdeo from NASA.

India attempts to reconnect with lunar lander

India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon launched a spacecraft carrying a rover on July 22, the start of a much-touted mission to explore the unexplored south pole of the moon. The ending didn’t go nearly as well. After a long…

What has China’s rover found on the moon’s far side?

Chinese media have reported that the Yutu-2 rover has discovered a “gel-like” substance in a crater on the far side of the moon. It sounds intriguing, but details are still scarce.