Galaxy

A team of researchers has found the first direct proof for the existence of dark matter, the mysterious and almost invisible substance thought to make up almost a quarter of the universe.

Dark matter does not absorb or emit light. So far, astronomers have inferred its presence only indirectly by measuring the effects of its gravity.

But now, by observing a massive collision between two large clusters of galaxies, astronomers have detected what they say could only be the signature of dark matter.

Supermassive black holes are actually “green,” scientists announced today as they described a new study on the energy efficiency of black holes.

If cars were as fuel efficient as these black holes, researchers say, the vehicles could theoretically travel over a billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) on a gallon of gasoline.

Yesterday astronomers announced the discovery of the most Earthlike planet ever detected outside of our solar system.

The discovery raises the prospect that the Milky Way galaxy is full of planets that could harbor life, the scientists say.

Astronomers are closing in on proof that a supermassive black hole is the source of mysterious radio waves at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Black holes are objects whose gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Supermassive black holes contain the mass of millions, if not billions, of suns.

A flood of interstellar dust is breaching the sun’s weakened magnetic shield and drifting into the solar system, according to European astronomers.

The interstellar dust particles measure about one-hundredth the diameter of a human hair. The bits are thought to supply the building blocks of all solid bodies in the galaxy, including the planets and humans.