Category Science

For a brief moment last year, northern Italy's night sky offered a spectacle rarely seen in a lifetime. From his home in Possagno, nestled in the Alps, photographer Valter Binotto captured an image showing two of Earth's rarest lightning phenomena occurring at the same time. Elves and sprites are forms of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), which flash high above thunde...

For decades, astronomers have studied galaxy formation, but the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has now revealed a galaxy with a dual personality, earning it the nickname “Jekyll and Hyde.” Known as Virgil, the galaxy shows a mild-mannered side, forming stars quietly, while its hidden core harbours a heavily obscured supermassive black hole that pours out immens...

The end of 2025 saw bright auroras over northern skies following a strong solar flare. In October 2024, NASA noted that the Sun had entered its solar maximum phase. Experts predicted that the most frequent and intense Northern Lights would likely occur throughout 2026. Even though solar activity has technically begun its gradual decline since the 2024 peak, the Sun re...

New research points to fragments of a comet exploding over North America approximately 13,000 years ago, sparking firestorms and rapid cooling that could have contributed to the extinction of mammoths. Scientists report finding telltale “shocked” quartz grains at classic Clovis sites dating to the Younger Dryas boundary, evidence of intense heat and pressure. Thi...

Space weather scientists are monitoring a coronal mass ejection expected to reach Earth around January 2–3, 2026. NOAA forecasts a G2-level geomagnetic storm, which is considered moderate but can still affect satellites, power grids and radio communications. While the event may bring vivid auroras to high latitudes, it also highlights the Sun’s increasing activity...

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered SPT-CL J2215-3537, a massive galaxy cluster located 8.4 billion light-years away. Nicknamed the “Champagne Supernova” cluster, it is the most distant relaxed cluster ever observed, showing no signs of recent collisions. Its calm structure and active star formation challenge existing theories abou...

Skywatchers will be treated to a striking celestial event on January 3, 2026, as the Wolf Moon rises as a supermoon near Earth’s perihelion. Appearing larger and brighter than usual, the full Moon will climb the eastern sky at dusk, accompanied by the brilliant planet Jupiter. This rare alignment—last seen more than a century ago—offers a vivid start to the year...

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby dwarf galaxy glowing with star birth. Just 160,000 light-years away, it hosts vast nebulae like the Tarantula and historic events such as Supernova 1987A, offering astronomers a rare, close-up laboratory to study how stars form, evolve, and explode.

Astronomers have found that the young star V1180 Cassiopeiae shows a rare mix of accretion-driven brightening and dust-caused dimming. Based on nearly 25 years of observations, the study explains its long-standing variability and shows how early stellar growth is shaped by tightly linked accretion, extinction, and outflow processes.

Astronomers have identified dozens of runaway stars moving fast enough to escape the Milky Way. By tracking these hypervelocity stars, researchers can map the galaxy’s gravitational pull and better understand how dark matter is distributed across its vast halo, offering new insight into the unseen structure shaping our cosmic home.