Astronomy

This ancient galaxy cluster is hiding in plain sight

This part of space may look like nothing special, but it’s actually home to a tightly packed “galaxy city,” composed of thirty extremely ancient galaxies. It’s a big find… and it took thousands of hours of observation before anyone noticed. Located 10.5 billion light-years away, this galaxy cluster is the most distant — and, consequently,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Neil deGrasse Tyson shares the most astounding fact about the universe

Back in 2008, TIME Magazine sat down with Neil deGrasse Tyson to ask him ten reader-submitted questions about science and the cosmos. Eventually, interviewer Gilbert Cruz came to the following question: What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the universe? Tyson’s response was incredibly moving, if not entirely original; the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Behold 10 years’ worth of breathtaking images of Earth

The European Space Agency’s Envisat is the largest Earth Observation spacecraft ever built, and on March 1st, it celebrated its tenth anniversary in low Earth orbit. In the past decade, the massive, 8-ton satellite has coursed its way around our planet over 50,000 times, capturing tens of thousands of pictures of everything from hurricanes to…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The weather on Venus calls for massive mid-air explosions

Earth’s magnetic field shields us from most of the worst effects of the solar wind. But our bizarro twin Venus has no such field, meaning its atmosphere is the only defense against the solar wind. That’s where things get interesting. The Sun shoots off solar wind at about a million miles an hour, and it…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

These colliding galaxy clusters challenge everything we know about dark matter

Abell 520 is one of the most gigantic mergers of galaxies we’ve ever seen, and it’s definitely the most baffling. As galaxies smashed together and parted away, they seemingly left their dark matter behind. That’s supposed to be completely impossible. It’s so impossible, in fact, that when astronomers first detected the “abandoned” dark matter in…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

What are these mysterious black splotches on the surface of Mars?

Mars may look red from here on Earth, but up close, the surface of the “Red Planet” is actually a variety of colors. In fact, many of them aren’t very red-looking at all. Case in point: the dunes in Mars’ northernmost latitudes, like the ones pictured here. But wait a minute, you may be thinking.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Scientists prove once and for all that there’s life on Earth

A hotly-debated subject is at last put to rest as scientists announce that they have conclusively confirmed that there is, in fact, life on Earth. They discovered this by looking at the Moon. It may seem like a pointless exercise — but this discover could help us find life on exoplanets. It has long been…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Scientists Discover Mysterious Colossal ‘Soap Bubbles’ In the Middle of Our Galaxy

Scientists have discovered two gigantic structures resembling soap bubbles in the middle of the Milky Way, above and below the galactic plane. How gigantic? 25,000 light-years tall, one quarter the size of our galaxy! They are not sure where they are coming from. They suspect they may be “the remnants from a burst of star…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

Neil deGrasse Tyson to Jon Stewart: “Your Earth is spinning the wrong direction.”

Last night, Jon Stewart had astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on The Daily Show to talk about the his new book, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier. It’s a great interview, but the highlight of the conversation definitely came towards the end of the exchange, when Tyson made his case for increasing space funding, causing Stewart…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This tiny galaxy might rewrite the early history of the universe

This dwarf galaxy is located just 59 million light-years away, making it one of the closest galaxies to our own. But because most of its stars are still just starting out, it’s like a portal to the early universe. The galaxy, whose rather nice full name I Zwicky 18 is generally shortened to the fiercely…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

A stunning image of four galaxies smashed together in one tiny corner of the universe

When you see multiple galaxies right on top of each other, like in this image, it’s usually an optical illusion, and the galaxies are actually millions of light-years apart. That’s true of one of the galaxies in this photo…but only one. There are five galaxies in this image – the two bright spots of yellow…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Saturn’s two largest moons, captured in tandem

Saturn has 62 known moons. Pictured here are the biggest of the lot, arranged as two crescents, one sitting atop the other. The one you’ve probably heard of before is Titan [click here for hi-res]. Within our solar system, the massive orb is second only to Jupiter’s Ganymede in size. It’s also the only moon…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This Is What the Death of a Star Really Looks Like

This is the best, the most detailed and clearest image of a dying star yet, according to NASA. Pause for a few seconds, expand the image, and really look at it. Imagine all that unstoppable fire in motion, like a real version of the Death Star explosion, but a gazillion times bigger. Imagine the shockwave…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

What do the Milky Way’s billions of Earth-like planets really look like?

The latest estimates suggest there are at least 160 billion exoplanets in the Milky Way alone, which means there could easily be several billion potentially habitable worlds in our galaxy. But are all these Earth-like planets really like our home? That’s the question an international team of astronomers are attempting to answer. While we’ve still…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

What’s up with all the weird meteors lately?

The meteors this month have been acting a little strange — they’re particularly fiery, and they take a very long time to burn out. It turns out this is not an isolated incident; speculation over the strangeness of February meteors goes back at least half a century. Now that we have the technology to keep…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Alternative dark matter particle could explain the universe’s lithium shortage

After hydrogen and helium, lithium is the lightest and simplest element in the universe. It should have been everywhere right after the Big Bang…but the data shows a mysterious shortage. The explanation may point to an unlikely dark matter candidate. The leading explanation for the creation of the lightest elements at the beginning of the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

NASA discovers enough carbon mega-molecules to fill 10,000 Mount Everests

They might be microscopic, but as far as molecules go, buckyballs are absolutely gigantic. These soccer ball shaped molecules are made of 60 carbon molecules each, and new data from the Spitzer Telescope suggest they are everywhere in the universe. Buckyballs, a shortened form of the more technical but no less awesome name Buckminsterfullerene, are…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

When NASA shot a rocket into the Northern Lights to study mysterious waves

This is a fisheye view of a NASA-funded rocket being shot into the Aurora Borealis in Alaska. In a move applauded nationwide, NASA has declared war on the sky. Obviously there’s a lot of (metaphorical) ground to cover, but NASA, as well as scientists from a number of universities, started with the mysterious Alfven Wave.…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Why the Orion Nebula Is Totally NSFW

The next time you’re out stargazing with your children, please make sure you shield them from Orion and his glowing member. Or at least bring a little loin cloth you can hold up to the sky. Also, you’re welcome for never being able to unsee that. [xkcd]

Books & Comics Brian Barrett

There really could be a giant planet hidden far beyond Pluto

Pluto is about forty times the distance from the Sun as Earth. But the Solar System is over 50000 times that length across, meaning it could be hiding some huge secrets. That’s now looking like a small but real possibility. In recent years, astronomers have discovered a bunch of planets located at least 100 astronomical…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

This ancient galaxy cluster is hiding in plain sight

Neil deGrasse Tyson shares the most astounding fact about the universe

Behold 10 years’ worth of breathtaking images of Earth

The weather on Venus calls for massive mid-air explosions

These colliding galaxy clusters challenge everything we know about dark matter

What are these mysterious black splotches on the surface of Mars?

Scientists prove once and for all that there’s life on Earth

Scientists Discover Mysterious Colossal ‘Soap Bubbles’ In the Middle of Our Galaxy

Neil deGrasse Tyson to Jon Stewart: “Your Earth is spinning the wrong direction.”

This tiny galaxy might rewrite the early history of the universe

A stunning image of four galaxies smashed together in one tiny corner of the universe

Saturn’s two largest moons, captured in tandem

This Is What the Death of a Star Really Looks Like

What do the Milky Way’s billions of Earth-like planets really look like?

What’s up with all the weird meteors lately?

Alternative dark matter particle could explain the universe’s lithium shortage

NASA discovers enough carbon mega-molecules to fill 10,000 Mount Everests

When NASA shot a rocket into the Northern Lights to study mysterious waves

Why the Orion Nebula Is Totally NSFW

There really could be a giant planet hidden far beyond Pluto

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Let us help find what you are looking for...