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With the launch of the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope in October 2021, astronomers will finally be able to perceive distant galaxies that host quasars—the most luminous objects in the universe. Quasars shine forth with the equivalent…

In a surprising find, researchers have detected phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Venus. This poisonous, colorless, flammable gas is nonetheless considered a strong sign of life, or "biosignature." Biosignatures are gases or combinations of gases…

In December 2019, a new solar cycle started. Solar cycles are the roughly 11-year periods—documented going back nearly 270 years—over which the Sun’s magnetic activity peaks and troughs. This activity is marked by the formation of sunspots on the…

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way serves as a unique laboratory for testing predictions of general relativity. In a new study, researchers report that a long-studied star—called S2 or sometimes S-02—moves in a rosette-shaped…

After a 40-year search, astronomers have identified the first star shown to pulsate on only one side. Many kinds of stars, called variables, undergo natural pulsations, or periodic changes in brightness that are visible across the whole star. The…

Molten iron rains from the evening skies of an exoplanet designated WASP-76b, according to a new study. WASP-76b is a gas giant—a large planet with a vast gaseous envelope, like Jupiter—located about 390 light-years from Earth. Astronomers used an…

Stellar explosions known as supernovae may be behind several anomalous rises in radiocarbon captured in tree rings over the past 40,000 years, according to a recent study that adds mounting evidence to the hypothesis that supernovae can impact…

A form of ultraviolet (UV) light holds promise as an innovative way to neutralize airborne SARS-CoV-2 particles and other viruses, potentially helping slow the COVID-19 pandemic that, to date, has caused over 1.3 million deaths globally. More…

Researchers from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, USA, have synthesized conductive and layered 2D materials known as MXenes (pronounced maxenes) using a water-free process. In doing so, scientists have opened up potential uses of MXenes as…

The United Nations has proclaimed 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT2019). The same year also marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table, containing…