Astronomers have found likely evidence of an Earth-like planet in the Solar System that may be circling the Sun in an orbit beyond Neptune. Physicists, including those from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, said the planet could be much closer than the hypothetical Planet Nine thought to exist in the far outer edges of the Solar System. Several studies in the past have suggested there... 

Supermassive black holes are already recognized as some of the most bizarre objects in the universe. Past their high-energy coronas, inside the event horizons, the known laws of physics seem to shut down. But recently, astronomers observed something happening to a black hole that seemed impossible even by the object’s own outlandish standards. About 100 million light-years away, the super hot, ultrabright... 

Astronomers have boldly gone where no man has gone before in announcing that Star Trek’s fictional planet Vulcan is real – and even has a sun just like ours. The planet is twice the size of Earth and has a 42-day-long year. Since the show’s writer associated Vulcan with a real star, named 40 Eridani A, curious scientists and sci-fi fans alike have wanted to find out if there actually is a planet... 

A mysterious flash of X-rays has been spotted by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in deep space, and astronomers are at a loss to explain it. The X-ray source, located in a region of the sky known as the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S), was unremarkable before October 2014 – but then it erupted and became at least 1000 times brighter in a few hours. After about a day, the source had faded to... 

An international team of astronomers has managed to compile the first temperature map of 55 Cancri e, a rocky ‘super-Earth’ exoplanet thought to have twice the diameter of Earth, according to NASA. The first thermal map of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e has been compiled by researchers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope; the map reveals extreme temperature swings from one side of the... 

Planet 2MASS J2126, which was considered an independent space body, moves in orbit around the star about one trillion kilometers far from the planet, the Royal Astronomical Society said. A team of astronomers from the UK, the US and Australia described their discovery in “Monthly Notices” journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. Scientists discovered the planet as a separate body eight... 

NASA scientists have found the first planet outside of the solar system that could be similar to Earth and capable of sustaining life. Unlike other similarly sized planets, the newly-discovered one lies in a “habitable zone” near a sun-like star. While looking for possibly hospitable planets outside the solar system, the Kepler telescope has recently found a planet some 1,400 light years away,... 

NASA astronomers have found a second mountain range on Pluto. Scientists are puzzled over the distinctive difference with the first mountainous region discovered on the distant planet. The New Horizons mission said the mountains had been found on the lower-left ledge of Pluto’s heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio area. The mountains are from 1 to 1.5 kilometers high and are comparable with the Appalachian... 

In this image, captured by the Gemini Observatory, shows at least three recent supernovas exploding on camera for the first time on May 21, 2008. It is suspected that these interactions sparked the formation of massive stars and the resulting fury of supernovae activity in this galaxy. The universe may not be expanding since the Big Bang as fast as it was previously thought, astronomers say. The discovery... 

The newly-spotted black hole questions the rate at which they grow. Astronomers have discovered a black hole that is 12 billion times more massive than the sun. The new finding, described in a study published in science weekly Nature on Wednesday, could challenge a generally accepted theory about how black holes are formed. The supermassive black hole, estimated to have been formed only 875 million... 

An asteroid the size of five football fields is approaching Earth and is expected to pass by on Monday. It will be visible through strong binoculars, definitely worth a look. The next time such an asteroid comes this close again will be in 2027. At the closest point to the Earth, asteroid 2004 BL86 will be at a distance of 1.2 million kilometers which – approximately three times the distance from... 

An artist’s rendering of what Kepler 438b may look like. Harvard scientists have discovered the most earth-like planet ever in the Lyra constellation, some 470 light years away. Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) made the announcement at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle on Tuesday. Kepler 438b is slightly bigger than Earth and is in the orbit... 

A potentially hazardous asteroid, at least 20 times the size of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, will approach the Earth on January 26. The rock is expected to fly by at a distance of 1.2 million kilometers. The asteroid, named 2004 BL86 by scientists, is estimated to be between 440-1,000 meters in diameter. 1.2 million kilometers is approximately three times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. According... 

The construction project of the world’s biggest telescope has officially begun at the summit of a mountain on the US island of Hawaii. Several countries including Japan, China, Canada and India are slated to collaborate with the United Stated in the project. The thirty Meter Telescope is going to be a reflecting one and will be built atop a 4,000 meter mountain, Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano. A... 

The Andromeda spiral galaxy A short time ago, in a galaxy very, very close by, a NASA satellite thought it detected a gamma ray burst in Andromeda. It was a false alarm, but astronomers used the opportunity as a reminder that “our galaxy and Andromeda are set for a head-on collision” even though it is widely accepted that galaxies in the universe tend to distance themselves from one another. NASA’s...