The Great Solar Storm of 2024 May Have Made the Strongest Auroras in Centuries
Northern and southern lights produced by a recent bout of severe space weather may rival the most intense auroras of the past 500 years
Sharmila Kuthunur is a Seattle-based science journalist covering astronomy, astrophysics and space exploration. Follow her on X @skuthunur
The Great Solar Storm of 2024 May Have Made the Strongest Auroras in Centuries
Northern and southern lights produced by a recent bout of severe space weather may rival the most intense auroras of the past 500 years
Sorry, Little Green Men: Alien Life Might Actually Be Purple
Purple may be a likely color for extraterrestrial organisms, research suggests
Behold, the Mind-Blowing Bubbles of Betelgeuse
Giant bubbles erupting across this red supergiant star’s surface could solve a lingering astrophysical mystery
Low Oxygen May Smother Life’s Prospects on Europa, Jupiter’s Ocean Moon
The subsurface ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa may have far less oxygen—and less potential for life—than previously believed, according to data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft
Giant Ultrafaint Galaxy Could Offer Dark Matter Clues
A ghostly giant galaxy called Nube may become a testbed for esoteric theories of dark matter
Uranus and Neptune Have Similar Hues, New Study Shows
A new analysis finds that images from Voyager 2's close encounter with Neptune show the planet as being far too blue
Six-Planet System in Perfect Harmony Shocks Scientists
Six “sub-Neptune” worlds locked in a delicate dance around a nearby star offer fresh insights for the orbital evolution of planetary systems
Many-Mirrored Galaxies Deepen Dark Matter Mystery
A surprisingly complex galaxy cluster suggests that in the search for dark matter, nothing is as simple as it seems