Pentagon is struggling to explain more than 170 fresh UFO reports, new document reveals By Brandon Specktor published 13 January 23 Nearly half of all new UFO cases opened in 2022 cannot be explained, Pentagon officials wrote.
Spectacular Butterfly Nebula offers a glimpse of our sun's final fate By Brandon Specktor published 13 January 23 New time-lapse images of the beautiful Butterfly Nebula come closer to explaining its spectacular strangeness.
Hundreds of dusty black holes found hiding in plain sight By Adam Mann published 12 January 23 Astronomers detected 400 previously unknown black holes in a new X-ray survey of dusty galactic centers.
Rare green comet not seen since the Stone Age will zoom overhead tonight. Here's how to watch. By JoAnna Wendel published 12 January 23 The last time comet C/2022 E3 passed by Earth, modern humans were mingling with Neanderthals.
Enormous 'Swiss cheese' bubble surrounding Earth mapped in incredible new images By Ben Turner published 11 January 23 The gigantic bubble was created by multiple supernova explosions, and researchers finally know what its magnetic field may look like.
A star mysteriously blinked for 7 years, and astronomers think they finally know why By Adam Mann published 11 January 23 The strange dimming of Gaia17bpp could point to a small companion surrounded by a huge dusty disk.
Incredible new photos of moon's surface are highest resolution pictures ever taken from Earth By Adam Mann published 11 January 23 A radar system less powerful than a household microwave oven produced some of the best pictures of the moon ever captured.
Incredible time-lapse photo captures the sun during an 8-year sunspot peak By Harry Baker published 11 January 23 A new time-lapse image shows two major sunspot groups moving across the surface of the sun in December 2022, when the number of solar splotches also skyrocketed to an eight-year high.
Webb telescope turns up baffling views of the early universe By Adam Mann published 11 January 23 New results from the James Webb Space Telescope challenge prevailing models of the early universe.
Twin black holes caught chowing down on the leftovers of a galaxy merger By Stephanie Pappas published 10 January 23 Binary black holes may be more common than astronomers realized, according to new research.
Why hasn't ET phoned Earth? Maybe aliens are waiting for the exact right moment. By Stephanie Pappas published 6 January 23 A new search for alien signals focuses on planetary transits, when exoplanets pass right in front of their suns.
Mars crater is 'chock-full' of opal gemstones, hinting at widespread water and possible microbial life By JoAnna Wendel published 6 January 23 Mysterious "halos" of rock surrounding cracks in a Martian crater may be made of water-rich opal gemstones, a new study suggests.
Could humans use black holes to time travel? By Sam Baron published 5 January 23 Black holes form natural time machines that allow travel to both the past and the future. But don't expect to be visiting dinosaurs any time soon.
Massive, hidden sunspot blasts out potential X-class flare — and Earth could soon be in the firing line By Harry Baker published 5 January 23 Astronomers recently detected a massive explosion on the far side of the sun, which may have spat out one of the most powerful flares the sun can produce.
Does reality exist when we're not looking? By Paul Sutter published 4 January 23 In quantum physics, particles exist in many states at once until you measure them. Can reality really work that way?
Earth reaches its closest point to the sun — just in time to be slammed by a solar storm By Brandon Specktor published 4 January 23 A minor G1-class geomagnetic storm will hit Earth right as our planet reaches perihelion, its closest point to the sun.
The full 'Wolf micromoon' rises Jan. 6. Here's how to watch. By Stephanie Pappas published 2 January 23 The first full moon of the new year will be a 'micromoon,' with the moon at its farthest point from Earth.
How to watch the Quadrantids – one of the best meteor showers all year – on Jan. 2 and 3 By Stephanie Pappas published 30 December 22 The Quadrantid meteor shower is considered one of the best to view all year. Here's how to maximize your chances of seeing shooting stars.
The 10 most massive black hole findings from 2022 By Brandon Specktor published 29 December 22 From "rogue" black holes cruising the cosmos to one of the oldest black hole ancestors in this universe, this year's findings truly sucked us in.
8 times physics blew our minds in 2022 By Ben Turner published 29 December 22 Nuclear fusion, lab-simulated wormholes, and ramming distant asteroids, here are the biggest and best physics stories of the year.