On The Hunt For Earth’s First Complex Life

Finding microfossils of Earth’s oldest complex life is a bit like chasing an astrobiological rainbow. The eukaryotic pot of gold at rainbow’s end always seems just a bit out of reach.

The Dark Energy Camera's New Image is Reminiscent of van Gogh

The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) has a massive 570 megapixel camera, and its new image is of the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. Corona Australis is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth. It's not as well-studied as the Orion Molecular Cloud or Ophiuchus, but as DECam's new iage of Corona Australis shows, it's just as fascinating.

What's It Like to Travel Near the Speed of Light? Part 4: The Hot View

An accelerating observer finds their empty vacuum glowing with real particles, a bizarre effect called Unruh radiation. It's a cousin to Hawking radiation, but with no black hole required, just a rocket and its throttle.

X-Ray Eyes Reveal the Magnetic Secrets of the Lighthouse Pulsar's Cosmic Wake

Space Telescope Maps Magnetic Fields of "Lighthouse" Pulsar kerryhensley45577 Mon, 07/13/2026 - 10:49 Space Telescope Maps Magnetic Fields of "Lighthouse" Pulsar https://science.nasa.gov/missions/ixpe/nasa-space-telescope-maps-magnetic-fields-of-lighthouse-pulsar/

FCC Approves First Launch for Space Reflector Constellation

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved the first test launch of Reflect Orbital’s Eärendil-1 satellite. Sporting an 18 by 18 meter-wide reflector once unfurled, the satellite will test the ability to reflect sunlight back to Earth, on demand. The company envisions more than 50,000 reflectors girding the Earth in low Earth orbit by 2035, while many in the astronomical community have raised concerns on the project's impact.

Satellite Images of Pengiun Poo Reveal Climate Change's Impact on the Species

Researchers utilized 30 years of Landsat satellite imagery to analyze the color and spectral signatures of Adélie penguin guano across Antarctica, marking the first time space-based observations have captured food-web and population dynamics at a continental scale.

This Exoplanet Hid for 10 Years Before Astronomers Finally Found It

A team of astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b — the first planet discovered in the same system — and is among the lightest exoplanets ever to be imaged from the ground. After spotting the planet using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), the team found it had been hiding in archive observations spanning more than a decade.