Latest articles by Robert Lea
James Webb telescope finds water in roiling disk of gas around ultra-hot star for 1st time ever
The James Webb Space Telescope's discovery of water and other molecules in the inner region of a hot protoplanetary disk suggests that rocky, Earth-like planets may be able to form in some very extreme environments.
6 alien worlds have been 'waltzing' in perfect rhythm for 4 billion years
Six exoplanets with sizes between Earth and Neptune have been in rhythm with each other since they were born around the same star 4 billion years ago, new research suggests.
Strange 'blob' circling Milky Way's central black hole is shooting powerful radiation at Earth every 76 minutes
Regular high-energy pulses of gamma-ray radiation emerging from around the Milky Way's central black hole may be coming from a blob of matter whipping around at 30% the speed of light.
NASA is pausing all Mars missions, effective immediately. Here's why.
The Red Planet has reached solar conjunction as its orbit takes it to the far side of the sun and out of sight. NASA's Mars robots are on their own until Nov. 25.
Astronauts accidentally dropped a tool bag on a spacewalk, and you can see it with binoculars
A tool bag that gave astronauts the slip during a spacewalk at the International Space Station is surprisingly bright and can be seen from Earth with binoculars.
Brightest gamma-ray explosion of all time scrambled Earth's upper atmosphere
Dubbed the "brightest of all time," or the BOAT, a gamma-ray burst detected in 2022 continues to astound astronomers, revealing severe effects in Earth's atmosphere.
Supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is approaching the cosmic speed limit, dragging space-time along with it
Supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is spinning nearly as fast as it can, dragging the very fabric of space-time with it and shaping the heart of the Milky Way.
Tiny galaxies that had their stars stolen could be a 'missing link' in cosmic evolution
More than 100 observed galaxies are being disrupted and stripped of their outer layers, transforming them into fossil-dense, ultra-compact dwarf galaxies.
'Rogue' star hurtling through the Milky Way won't smash into our solar system after all
A white dwarf spotted by the Gaia telescope was predicted to smash into our solar system in 29,000 years. But we'll be safe after all.
Universe's oldest X-ray-spitting quasar could reveal how the biggest black holes were born
The newly identified quasar, observed 13.7 billion light-years away by the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, could be an example of a heavy black hole "seed" in the early universe.
1st images from the Euclid 'dark universe' telescope are here — and they're jaw-dropping
The first images from ESA's dark universe detective Euclid are out, featuring spectacular views of nebulas, distant galaxies and globular clusters of thousands of stars.
Rare type of space explosion could leave Earth uninhabitable for 'thousands of years'
New research describes how a kilonova explosion triggered by colliding neutron stars could eradicate life on Earth for thousands of years. Thankfully, the odds are incredibly low.
James Webb telescope spots ultra-rare cosmic explosion that could reveal the origin of the universe’s heaviest elements
The James Webb Space Telescope's detection of tellurium in the violent environment of a dead-star merger is a step toward determining where the universe's heaviest elements come from.
See the entire 'ring of fire' eclipse in 4 seconds in stunning satellite videos
The NOAA satellites GOES-East and GOES-West watched as the shadow of the moon darkened the surface of Earth on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Gaia spacecraft reveals 'goldmine' of over 500,000 undiscovered stars
The European Space Agency's Gaia telescope revealed half a million newfound stars, and detailed the orbits of over 150,000 asteroids.
ESA scientists finally resolve glitch that caused Euclid spacecraft to 'doodle' through space
The European Space Agency's dark energy and dark matter spacecraft has once again found its guiding stars and is preparing for full "science mode."
Astronomers spot violent afterglow of 2 massive planets that collided in a distant star system
Astronomers detected the dusty afterglow of a massive planetary collision in a star system 3,600 light-years away, where two giant icy worlds met their end.
Highest-energy pulsar ever seen could indicate new physics
The surprising detection of light 200 times more powerful than previous observations from the nearby pulsar Vela indicates hidden physics around dead stars.
'Remarkable' explosions from colliding, dead stars could reveal the true expansion rate of the universe
Two conflicting methods to measure the expansion rate of the universe give different results, but researchers could resolve the disparity by watching merging neutron stars explode.
An ancient, ravenous black hole has been hiding an 11-billion-year-old galaxy in its glare
A team of astronomers has used a tricky technique to study an ancient galaxy previously lost in the glare of a blazing quasar.
Mysterious source of water on the moon traced to Earth's magnetic shield
Some of the moon's surface water may have an Earthly origin, due to high-energy interactions between the sun and Earth's magnetic shield, new research suggests.
Astronomers measure dark matter 'haloes' around hundreds of ancient black holes for 1st time
Studying the mysterious form of matter around ancient quasar galaxies could have profound implications for our understanding of how the cosmos evolved.
NASA is hunting for life outside the solar system. Here's how.
"We aren’t going to see little green men but rather spectral signatures of these key chemicals, or what we call biosignatures."
