The oldest known black hole formed more than 13.3 billion years ago
The Webb telescope found that a far-off little red dot is the oldest known black hole, shrouded by gas that could help explain the ruby
Author: McKenzie Prillaman
Cosmic rays could, in theory, sustain life on other worlds
The hypothesis could extend the search for extraterrestrial life to include frigid planets with thin atmospheres and underground water.
A giant planet may orbit our closest sunlike neighbor
Alpha Centauri A, four light-years from Earth, may host a gas giant. If confirmed, no Earthlike planets orbit in the star’s habitable zone.
Seven superclouds sit just beyond the solar system
The superclouds probably produce star-forming clouds of gas, since most nearby stellar nurseries are located within the giants.
The Webb space telescope spies its first black holes snacking on stars
These star-shredding black holes sit within dusty galaxies that block many telescopes’ views. That’s not an issue for JWST.
Two colliding galaxies may have birthed this black hole
An infinity symbol–shaped galaxy hosts an active supermassive black hole. The growing giant may have come from the aftermath of a galactic smashup.
This star offers the earliest peek at the birth of a planetary system like ours
A young sunlike star called HOPS 315 seems to host a swirling disk of gas giving rise to minerals that kick-start the planet formation process.
New Horizons visited Pluto 10 years ago. We’re still learning from it
Over the past decade, researchers have been puzzling through Pluto’s mysteries. Meanwhile, the New Horizons probe heads for interstellar space.