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Astronomy

Explore stars, galaxies, telescopes and the methods astronomers use to investigate objects far beyond Earth.

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NASA visualization of a neutron star with X-ray beams and an accretion disk
EDITOR’S PICK

What Is Inside a Neutron Star?

A neutron star compresses more mass than the Sun into a sphere the size of a city, turning its interior into a laboratory for matter beyond terrestrial reach.

Sep 13, 2026 • 11 min readRead the discovery →
LATEST

Latest discoveries

New stories, explanations and research from Astronomy.

Dense star field in the constellation Cepheus recorded by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft camera
Astronomy

Why Do Stars Twinkle?

The familiar flicker reveals the air between an observer and a distant star.

Oct 3, 2026 • 6 min read
Ultraviolet image of Venus showing patterns in its global cloud deck
Astronomy

Why Is Venus Hotter Than Mercury?

Mercury is closer to the Sun, but Venus is hotter because its massive carbon-dioxide atmosphere traps outgoing infrared energy. Venus averages about 464°C at…

Oct 1, 2026 • 4 min read
Why Pulsars Are the Universe’s Precision Clocks featured reference image
Astronomy

Why Pulsars Are the Universe’s Precision Clocks

Rapidly rotating neutron stars sweep radio or high-energy beams past Earth with extraordinary regularity, making them tools for studying gravity and interstellar space.

Sep 30, 2026 • 2 min read
How Cold Clouds Collapse and Form New Stars featured reference image
Astronomy

How Cold Clouds Collapse and Form New Stars

Stars begin in dense regions of cold gas clouds. Gravity drives collapse, while rotation, magnetic fields and feedback shape how material reaches a growing…

Sep 28, 2026 • 3 min read
How Gravity Turns Galaxies into Cosmic Lenses featured reference image
Astronomy

How Gravity Turns Galaxies into Cosmic Lenses

Mass bends spacetime and therefore the paths of light, allowing galaxies and clusters to magnify, distort or multiply the images of more distant objects…

Sep 24, 2026 • 3 min read
Why Does the Moon Change Shape? — documentary reference image
Astronomy

Why Does the Moon Change Shape?

The Moon does not physically change shape. Half of it is illuminated by the Sun at almost all times, and its phases occur because…

Sep 23, 2026 • 5 min read
What Causes the Northern Lights? — documentary reference image
Astronomy

What Causes the Northern Lights?

The northern lights form when energetic charged particles guided by Earth’s magnetic field collide with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere. Those gases…

Sep 23, 2026 • 5 min read
Technical cutaway drawing of an underground solar-neutrino detector
Astronomy

How Neutrinos Reveal What Happens Inside the Sun

Solar neutrinos carry evidence of fusion from deep inside the Sun. Underground detectors measure rare interactions and distinguish changes in flavour from missing energy.

Sep 23, 2026 • 3 min read