Photo credit: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
Astronomy fans might be intrigued to know that approximately 8,000 light-years away, located inside the shimmering haze of the NGC 6357 nebula, lies star cluster Pismis 24. It was observed by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and forces scientists to question just how massive a star can get before it breaks the laws of physics.
A spacecraft zipping through the solar system has just pulled off a celestial heist, snagging humanity’s first-ever close-up views of the Sun’s elusive poles. The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter, a car-sized probe launched in 2020, tilted its orbit to peer at regions of our star that no telescope—Earth-bound or otherwise—has ever glimpsed directly.
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, appears serene at first glance, but this galaxy, located 92 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, has a history marked by chaos and transformation.
For decades, astronomers have spun a dramatic tale: our Milky Way galaxy, a shimmering spiral of stars, gas, and dust, was destined to smash into its cosmic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, in a spectacular galactic merger billions of years from now. But a new study, powered by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Gaia observatory, is rewriting this narrative. After running 100,000 computer simulations, researchers now suggest there’s only a 50-50 chance of this galactic showdown. The Milky Way and Andromeda might just glide past each other, like ships in the cosmic night.
Photo credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope just gave the Sombrero Galaxy—Messier 104—a mind-blowing makeover, catching this cosmic icon 30 million light-years away in a way that leaves Hubble’s classic shots in the dust. Unlike Hubble’s visible-light pics, where a glowing core and stark dust lane steal the show, Webb’s near-infrared image flips things, spotlighting a dazzling central bulge while the dust fades into the background, building on its trippy mid-infrared view from late 2024.
Photo credit: Vladimir Vustyansky
NASA has a bold plan to plant a massive radio telescope in a lunar crater, a project that could redefine how we listen to the universe’s deepest secrets. Dubbed the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT), this isn’t just another space gadget—it’s a 1-kilometer-wide wire mesh dish designed to capture whispers from the cosmos that Earth’s noisy atmosphere and satellites drown out. If approved, it could be operational by the 2030s, built entirely by robots in a pristine, radio-quiet zone on the moon’s far side.
Gaze upward on a clear night, and the stars feel eternal, a quiet backdrop to our fleeting lives. Now, consider a snapshot of the cosmos so deep it captures light that’s been traveling since the universe was a toddler. The James Webb Space Telescope has delivered just that—a mesmerizing image of galaxy cluster Abell S1063, a celestial heavyweight 4.5 billion light-years away in the constellation Grus.
Photo credit: Dirk Schmidt
Staring at the sun’s always been a risky game—its dazzling glare hides a million-degree chaos zone called the corona, only peeking out during rare total eclipses. For ages, scientists have wrestled with Earth’s pesky atmosphere to glimpse this fiery crown in detail. Now, a crew from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory (NSO) and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has nailed it, dropping the clearest images and videos ever of the sun’s corona, showcasing its wild beauty in jaw-dropping detail.
A backyard inventor has swiped a trick from NASA’s cosmic toolbox, whipping up a solar generator that riffs on the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) stellar prowess. It’s a full-on tribute to one of humanity’s boldest space gadgets, with Concept Crafted Creations fusing sci-fi looks and gritty engineering—though it’s still got some kinks to iron out.
