Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A new look at distant quasars split by gravity shows the universe may be growing faster than expected. (CREDIT: SpringerNature ...

Decades after it became clear that the visible Universe is built on a framework of dark matter, we still don’t know what dark matter actually is. On large scales, a variety of evidence points toward ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Gravitational lensing occurs when things with mass create ripples ...

The explosion of the supernova Winny, observed roughly 10 billion light‑years from Earth, may provide new insights into the rate of the universe’s expansion. A gravitational lens is a cosmic ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Image of the galaxy NGC 6505: the Einstein ring created by this gravitational lens can be seen in ...

Let's turn the sun into a telescope. In fact, we don't have to do any work—we just have to be in the right spot. But how can the sun be a telescope? The sun is not a mirror, but it is a lens. And we ...

Astronomers are living in a golden age of bigger and better telescopes. But even our most advanced technology pales in comparison to the power of nature’s own “cosmic magnifying glasses” – strong ...

Turbulent processes take place close to supermassive black holes, which lurk in the centres of nearly all galaxies. They swallow up matter flowing in from the outside while at the same time producing ...

In the center of this image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the galaxy cluster SDSS J1038+4849 and it seems to be smiling You can make out its two orange eyes and white button nose ...

For much of the twentieth century, scientists expected the expanding universe to slow over time. The opposite turned out to be true. Space is stretching faster today than in the past, and the precise ...