3 Questions: The origin of the cosmos’ heaviest elements
Unique galaxy offers clues to the extreme conditions that yield the heavies of the periodic table.
Kavli Institute
Testimony: LIGO has “cracked open” a new window to the universe
MIT’s David Shoemaker testifies before Congress on the significance of LIGO.
Scientists make first direct detection of gravitational waves
LIGO signal reveals first observation of two massive black holes colliding, proves Einstein right.
Gravitational waves detected 100 years after Einstein’s prediction
LIGO opens a new window on the universe with the observation of gravitational waves from colliding black holes.
Student-built instrument headed to asteroid and back
Created by MIT students, REXIS has been integrated onto NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
Most distant massive galaxy cluster identified
Formed in the first 4 billion years of the universe, cluster is 1,000 times more massive than the Milky Way.
3 Questions: Anna Frebel on searching for the oldest stars
New book details astronomers’ hunt for clues to the early universe.
3Q: Sarah Ballard on astrophysics and gender equity in science
Kavli Institute postdoc and 2015 L'Oreal USA For Women in Science Award winner speaks on her career and why roadblocks remain for women in science.
New exoplanet in our neighborhood
Though likely uninhabitable, planet is rocky, Earth-sized, and near enough for study of its atmosphere.
Advanced LIGO set to begin science operations
The world's most sensitive gravitational-wave detector is scheduled to go online this week, after seven years of enhancement.
Circular orbits identified for small exoplanets
Observations of 74 Earth-sized planets around distant stars may narrow field of habitable candidates.
3Q: Getting ever closer to observing gravitational waves
Einstein’s theory of general relativity to be put through the paces as Advanced LIGO comes online.
Why isn’t the universe as bright as it should be?
Study explains why galaxies don’t churn out as many stars as they should.