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Astronaut Scott Kelly posted this photo of an aurora taken from the International Space Station to Twitter on August 15, 2015

Physics

The radical idea that space-time remembers could upend cosmology

There are new hints that the fabric of space-time may be made of "memory cells" that record the whole history of the universe. If true, it could explain the nature of dark matter and much more

Features

Astronaut Sally Ride, mission specialist on STS-7, monitors control panels from the pilot's chair on the Flight Deck. Floating in front of her is a flight procedures notebook. (Credit: NASA)

Space

Life of first US woman in space Sally Ride makes a moving documentary

Culture

The eye is first drawn, in this new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month, to the central mega-monster that is galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This behemoth collection of galaxies, lying 4.5 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Grus (the Crane), dominates the scene. Looking more closely, this dense collection of heavy galaxies is surrounded by glowing streaks of light, and these warped arcs are the true object of scientists??? interest: faint galaxies from the Universe???s distant past. Abell S1063 was previously observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope???s Frontier Fields programme. It is a strong gravitational lens: the galaxy cluster is so massive that the light of distant galaxies aligned behind it is bent around it, creating the warped arcs that we see here. Like a glass lens, it focuses the light from these faraway galaxies. The resulting images, albeit distorted, are both bright and magnified ??? enough to be observed and studied. This was the aim of Hubble???s observations, using the galaxy cluster as a magnifying glass to investigate the early Universe. The new imagery from Webb???s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) takes this quest even further back in time. This image showcases an incredible forest of lensing arcs around Abell S1063, which reveal distorted background galaxies at a range of cosmic distances, along with a multitude of faint galaxies and previously unseen features. This image is what???s known as a deep field ??? a long exposure of a single area of the sky, collecting as much light as possible to draw out the most faint and distant galaxies that don???t appear in ordinary images. With 9 separate snapshots of different near-infrared wavelengths of light, totalling around 120 hours of observing time and aided by the magnifying effect of gravitational lensing, this is Webb???s deepest gaze on a single target to date. Focusing such observing power on a massive gravitational lens, like Abell S1063, therefore h

Space

Peer into the early universe as light bends around huge galaxy cluster

News

Space

Why it's taking a century to pin down the speed of the universe

News

Our verdict on Ringworld by Larry Niven: Nice maths, shame about Teela

Comment

Our verdict on Ringworld by Larry Niven: Nice maths, shame about Teela

Culture

Technology

Trump's Golden Dome defence project could spur a space arms race

News

Caption The ICEPIC sampling tool drilling into the ice at sampling site A of the Matanuska Glacier, AK, field trial. Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech

Technology

See the robot that may one day search for life on Jupiter's icy moon

News

EWXH9C THE MARTIAN (2015) MATT DAMON RIDLEY SCOTT (DIR)

Space

A doe-eyed look at space exploration is inadequate for the zeitgeist

Culture

2T1GT7B Artwork of Accelerating Universe

Physics

How dark energy findings may inspire a new generation of physics nerds

Comment

Space

One half of the moon is hotter than the other

Anomalies in the moon’s gravitational field suggest our satellite’s insides are warmer on one side than the other – which means that its interior is asymmetric

News

Space

Colourful group of galaxies offers peek into history of the universe

News

Physics

Why physicists keep trying to get rid of space-time entirely

Comment

Life

Let's remember that extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence

Leader

Space

Claims of alien life are overhyped – and miss the real accomplishment

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