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The Solar Wind’s Secret Hammerheads and What They Tell Us About Heat in Space

Cambridge, MA (May 27, 2026) —The proton sharks showed up on a Friday. In a routine data calibration meeting for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe in 2020, a small group of scientists were scrolling through ...
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Astronomers Uncover Why Some Solar Eruptions Die

New multi-telescope observations show why a powerful blast never became a true mass ejection. Cambridge, MA (May, 20, 2026) — A team of scientists has recorded one of the most detailed views ever of a ...
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Astronomers Directly Detect How Turbulence Between Stars Distorts Light

Using a distant quasar as a beacon, researchers identified the tiny, turbulence-driven ripples imprinted on the quasar’s radio signal as it passed through a particularly chaotic region of the Milky ...
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Harvard astronomy seniors kick off careers with thesis presentations at the CfA

The students’ presentations ranged from astrochemistry and Earth-like planet atmosphere formation to unusual movement patterns by red supergiant star Betelgeuse. Cambridge, MA (April 27, 2026) — Six ...
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'Space Archaeology' Reveals First Dynamic History of a Giant Spiral Galaxy

For the first time, astronomers used galactic archaeology techniques to trace the chemical "fossil record" of a galaxy outside the Milky Way Cambridge, MA (March 23, 2026) — A team of astronomers led ...
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New X-ray Space Telescope Gives Sharpest-Ever Glimpse at Growth of a Rapidly-Spinning Black Hole

The first results on the iconic active galactic nucleus MCG–6-30-15 captured with the XRISM mission show the most precise signatures yet of its supermassive black hole’s extreme gravity and the ...
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Astronomers Find Black Hole With Tremendous Growth Using NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory

CfA astronomers have found one of the fastest growing black holes on record, which could explain how some can get so big so quickly Cambridge (September 19, 2025)—A black hole is growing at one of the ...
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New EHT Images Reveal Unexpected Polarization Flips at M87*

The new multi-year Event Horizon Telescope observations capture evolving polarization patterns in a neighboring galaxy's supermassive black hole. Cambridge, MA— The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) ...
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Origin of Mysterious Radio Signal Possibly Discovered

CfA astronomers have led the discovery of what may be the source of a powerful burst of radio waves coming from another galaxy Cambridge, MA - Astronomers have discovered what may be the source of a ...
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AI Helps Astronomers Discover a New Type of Supernova

Astronomers have discovered what may be a massive star exploding while trying to swallow a black hole, offering an explanation for one of the strangest supernovae ever seen. Cambridge, MA - ...
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Giant Magellan Telescope Advances to National Science Foundation Final Design Phase

The advancement is one of the final steps before the telescope becomes eligible for federal construction funding, a critical milestone recognizing the Giant Magellan’s scientific merit, construction ...
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Astronomers Discover Rare Distant Object in Sync with Neptune

This object, called 2020 VN40, is the first confirmed body that orbits the sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes. Cambridge, MA — A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | ...