The search for extra-solar oceans

There may be oceans inside dwarf planets beyond the orbit of Pluto, just as there are inside several Jovian and Saturnian moons.

Dark stars

Astronomers have known for decades that the universe is expanding, but current models cannot explain the speed with which it is taking place.

Below the death line

The nature of a long-running source of regular radio signals from space has scientists excited, though it is almost certainly natural in origin, rather than a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence.

The universe according to AI

AI is becoming an essential tool for astronomers, helping them analyse the torrents of data produced by a new generation of telescopes on Earth and in space.

Most of us can’t see the stars

Oscar Wilde’s Lord Darlington once quipped that “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”, but even his Lordship would be hard put to glimpse many stars in today’s light polluted urban skies.

In search of super-earths

Super-sized Earth-like planets are much easier to spot in other solar systems than planets our own size, and may prove more common and more habitable than Earth itself.

We’re on the cusp of discovering alien life

The ancient question ‘Are we alone?’ has graduated from being a philosophical musing to a testable hypothesis. We should be prepared for an answer.

Wandering moons may shape distant solar systems

Australian and South American researchers suggest that wandering “ploonets” are unseen actors in distant solar systems.  These moons, once ejected from orbits around gas giant exoplanets, could explain several astronomical mysteries.

Unraveling the stories in our stars

Throughout time, humankind has looked to the stars and recounted the meaning they see. We know this is true of many cultures, in many places. But time and place have influenced those narratives and how they were passed on.

Fire in the sky

Over the past few days a pair of spectacular fireballs have graced Australia’s skies, but what’s the science behind them?

A quiet Sunday night discovering a super-massive black hole

The story of how a small team of researchers from Australian universities found the ‘hungry monster’ – one of the most exciting discoveries in astronomy this year.

Blood moon: lunar eclipse myths from around the world

Last evening, six of Earth’s seven continents saw the longest lunar eclipse this century. From fake kings and celestial jaguars, Daniel Brown explores the many myths behind the “blood moon”, and why this evocative phrase is a thorn in the side of science.