Universe | featured news

Late in 2009 year we witnessed the largest explosion ever recorded: a super giant star two hundred times bigger than the sun utterly obliterated by runaway thermonuclear reactions triggered by gamma ray-driven antimatter production.

Astronomers have underestimated the number of galaxies in parts of the Universe by as much as 90 per cent, according to a study, suggesting billions of stars are yet to be recorded.

Operators of the world's largest atom smasher on Friday ramped up their massive machine to three times the energy ever previously achieved, in the run-up to experiments probing the secrets of the universe.

A young star observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope appears to be home to a wild -- and young -- planetary system that shares some of the frenetic dynamics thought to have shaped the early years of our own solar system.

It took 13 billion years to reach Earth, but astronomers have seen the light of an exploding mega-star that is the most distant object ever detected, two studies published Thursday reported.

Astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop....

Completing an orbit in less than an Earth day, planet Wasp-18b should have burned up, according to accepted theory. Scientists have discovered a planet that shouldn't exist. The finding, they say, could alter our understanding of orbital dynamics, a field considered pretty well settled since the time of astronomer Johannes Kepler 400 years ago.

It may not be possible to travel back in time, but seeing stars and galaxies as they looked millions or even billions of years ago is no problem thanks to telescopes, the closest thing we have to time machines.

Four galaxies are involved in this pile-up 280 million light years from Earth.

A distant "sun" residing in the constellation Aquila has become the smallest star known to host a planet.