Astrophysics

Every now and then, tiny particles of antimatter strike Earth from cosmic parts unknown. A new balloon-borne experiment launching this spring may at last find their source

Domain walls, long a divisive topic in physics, may be ideal explanations for some bizarre cosmic quirks

Someday an unlucky outburst from our sun could strike Earth and fry most of our electronics—and we’ve already had some too-close-for-comfort near misses

Perspective and subtle motion allows us to peek over the moon’s edge and into its far side

As the Event Horizon Telescope pursues ambitious upgrades, the project’s latest results reveal the magnetic fields around our galaxy’s supermassive black hole

In just one year of observations, a program that is creating the largest 3D map of the universe to date has sniffed out hints that dark energy may be stranger than scientists supposed

The ocean’s twice-daily rise and fall is only the most obvious effect of tides—they slow Earth’s spin and shape stars and galaxies, too

According to Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the universe remembers every gravitational wave—and scientists could soon test these cosmic recollections

Giant bubbles erupting across this red supergiant star’s surface could solve a lingering astrophysical mystery

A nova called T Coronae Borealis spectacularly erupts every 80 years. Your only chance to see it will come any day now

In an era of budget-busting mega-telescopes, we shouldn’t forget the importance of smaller telescopes, more focused missions and the unexpected surprises they reveal about the universe

Scientists have proposed a new way to learn whether hypothetical particles called axions really exist—and whether axions make up most of the universe’s dark matter