Galaxy

A new chemical map of the local region of our galaxy developed by Keith Hawkins at the University of Texas at Austin has unearthed new structural details of nearby spiral arms of the Milky Way to a distance of 32,600 light years from Earth.

If a new study holds water it might be the JWST's most important discovery ever. Three bright objects in the distant universe could be the first candidate “dark stars,” hypothetical celestial objects powered by the annihilation of dark matter.

The annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition highlights the beauty of the night sky. The shortlist for 2023 has now been published, starring some stunning shots of the Sun, our majestic Milky Way, and awe-inspiring aurorae.

Besides the Big Bang itself, gamma ray bursts are the most energetic events in the universe. Astronomers knew of a few mechanisms that can produce them, but now an oddball gamma ray burst hints at a brand new origin – a stellar “demolition derby.”

At the heart of our galaxy lurks a supermassive monster, currently slumbering. But new observations reveal an X-ray “echo” from a time when the Milky Way’s central black hole awoke just 200 years ago, shining a million times brighter than today.

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted complex organic molecules, which usually form in smoke, in the very distant universe. With help from a galactic gravitational anomaly, the telescope could see the molecules from 12 billion light-years away.

Decades ago, the astronomy world was taken aback by the discovery of tall light filaments spiking out from around our galaxy's central black hole. Now more filaments have been found, only these have some significant – and puzzling – differences.

Our gorgeous galaxy is again the focus of an astrophotography collection. Travel photography blog Capture the Atlas has published its Milky Way Photographer of the Year gallery for 2023, including some astonishing shots of the starriest of night skies.

Researchers are asking meteorite hunters to refrain from using magnets to test the authenticity of their finds because this can destroy the specimen's magnetic memory, erasing valuable information about the nature of the solar system.

Astronomers have spotted a bizarre sight unlike anything ever seen before. A supermassive black hole has been ejected from its host galaxy, leaving a streak of light about twice as wide as the Milky Way in its wake as the shockwaves create new stars.

Astronomers have reclassified a radio galaxy in the sky after it was found to have redirected a jet of radiation straight towards Earth. This marks the first observation of a reorientation so dramatic that it changes the category a galaxy fits into.

Astronomers have been tracking a mysterious object near the center of the galaxy for decades, and now a new study has shed light on its identity – and its fate in the coming years, when it will be slurped up by the supermassive black hole there.