TESS takes initial test image
Exoplanet-seeking satellite developed by MIT swings by moon toward final orbit.
Ushering in the next phase of exoplanet discovery
Professor Sara Seager previews a new era of discovery as a leader of the TESS mission, which is expected to find some 20,000 extrasolar planets.
Three MIT graduate students awarded 2018 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
Award honors immigrants’ contributions to the United States.
TESS readies for takeoff
Satellite developed by MIT aims to discover thousands of nearby exoplanets, including at least 50 Earth-sized ones.
Dense stellar clusters may foster black hole megamergers
Black holes in these environments could combine repeatedly to form objects bigger than anything a single star could produce.
Scientists detect radio echoes of a black hole feeding on a star
Signals suggest black hole emits a jet of energy proportional to the stellar material it gobbles up.
Modeling the universe
MIT's Mark Vogelsberger and an international astrophysics team have created a new model pointing to black holes’ role in galaxy formation.
Citizen scientists discover five tightly packed exoplanets
The planetary system’s dense configuration gives clues to its formation
Scientists observe supermassive black hole in infant universe
Findings present a puzzle as to how such a huge object could have grown so quickly.
Scientists detect comets outside our solar system
Team of professional and citizen scientists identifies tails of comets streaking past a distant star.
MIT researchers discuss the new "multi-messenger" era of astrophysics research
Mavalvala, Evans, Frebel, Katsavounidis, and Vitale discuss the science behind LIGO's observations of a neutron star collision.
3Q: Scott Hughes on cosmic distances and the future of gravitational wave astronomy
Professor of physics describes our understanding of the expansion of the universe through “standard sirens.”
LIGO and Virgo make first detection of gravitational waves produced by colliding neutron stars
Discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light.
MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics
LIGO inventor and professor emeritus of physics recognized “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”
Gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger observed by LIGO and Virgo
Finding represents first joint detection of gravitational waves with both detectors.