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Astronomy & Astrophysics

Carrier Wave: Finding Planets in Gravitational Waves From Dead Stars

Carrier Wave: Finding Planets in Gravitational Waves From Dead Stars

Somewhere in the Milky Way, two dead stars are whirling around each other every few minutes, and a giant planet...

by Alexander CurryNovember 11, 2026
Storm Warning: X-Ray Clues Could Predict Black Hole Jets

Storm Warning: X-Ray Clues Could Predict Black Hole Jets

Astronomers who study black holes have a timing problem. Every so often, a black hole feeding on a companion star...

by Alexander CurryNovember 11, 2026
Stirring the Sun: Surface Whirlpools May Drive Coronal Heating

Stirring the Sun: Surface Whirlpools May Drive Coronal Heating

Step away from a fire and the air cools. The Sun breaks that rule. Its visible surface sits at about...

by Alexander CurryNovember 10, 2026

Quick Reads

Flat Pack: A Caltech Robot Tests In-Space Assembly of a Truss

Flat Pack: A Caltech Robot Tests In-Space Assembly of a Truss

Most spacecraft leave the ground fully built and folded into a rocket fairing, and that puts a hard ceiling on...

by Alexander CurryNovember 10, 2026
Deep Field: The Sharpest LOFAR Radio Image Yet Counts 63,000 Sources

Deep Field: The Sharpest LOFAR Radio Image Yet Counts 63,000 Sources

Point a radio telescope at an ordinary corner of the northern sky for long enough and it stops looking empty....

by Alexander CurryNovember 9, 2026
Pick a Side: Why Shape Matters for Nuclear Asteroid Deflection

Pick a Side: Why Shape Matters for Nuclear Asteroid Deflection

If a large asteroid were found heading for Earth with too little warning to nudge it gently, the last resort...

by Alexander CurryNovember 8, 2026
Powered Swing: ESCAPADE Earth Flyby Sends Twin Probes Towards Mars

Powered Swing: ESCAPADE Earth Flyby Sends Twin Probes Towards Mars

Miss a launch window to Mars and the usual penalty is a 26-month wait on the ground. NASA's twin ESCAPADE...

by Alexander CurryNovember 7, 2026
Final Unroll: Space Station Solar Arrays Complete a Five-Year Upgrade

Final Unroll: Space Station Solar Arrays Complete a Five-Year Upgrade

Solar panels age like anything else left out in the sunshine, and the International Space Station's original wings were designed...

by Alexander CurryNovember 6, 2026
Five-Minute Gamble: A Solar Flare Alert Helps Time Rocket Launches

Five-Minute Gamble: A Solar Flare Alert Helps Time Rocket Launches

Catching a solar flare with a rocket is like photographing lightning with a camera that takes a minute to switch...

by Alexander CurryNovember 5, 2026