astronomy and space sciences

an orange star is stretched out to loop around a dark oval at the center of a pink swirling mass

Research

Not one, but two massive black holes are eating away at this galaxy

UC Berkeley astronomers found a stealth black hole that is a companion to the massive black hole in the galaxy’s core. One day, the two might merge and produce a ripple of gravitational waves.

smiling woman with white hair and glasses wearing a mustard blouse with black jacket

Campus & community

Planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton to head Space Sciences Laboratory

layers of fuzzy blue and red clouds on a 3D grid

Research

On Jupiter, it’s mushballs all the way down

a fluffy blue sphere of gas with 3 small galaxies at the center, set against a black background

Research

Half of the universe’s hydrogen gas, long unaccounted for, has been found

Alex Filippenko and Pat Joseph talk onstage

The Edge: Life, the universe and everything with Berkeley astrophysicist Alex Filippenko

Ancient beaches testify to long-ago ocean on Mars

looping steel structure lit up against a starry sky

Astronomers thought they understood fast radio bursts. A recent one calls that into question.

a bright yellow spot amid stars, with a blue background of stars

The Andromeda galaxy struts its stuff

A round shaped yellow flame burns in front of a green background.

Engineers from UC Berkeley and NASA team up to study fire in space

the southern portion of a blue Jupiter with a dark blue spot and a chocolate-brown cap at the bottom

Magnetic tornado is stirring up the haze at Jupiter’s poles

a planet against a blue background is exploded in layered hemispheres resembling clouds, an ocean, an amber layer and a core

A clue to what lies beneath the bland surfaces of Uranus and Neptune

a mottled purple ball surrounded by white lines against a black background

A nearby supernova could end the search for dark matter

a silvery Earth in the foreground with a bright white ball in the distance

This rocky planet around a white dwarf resembles Earth — 8 billion years from now

man seated in office wearing jacket and tie

Physicist Paul Richards, a pioneer in studies of the cosmic microwave background, dies at 90

a small white and black tube sits on pebbly red ground in the shade of the Insight lander on Mars

Rocks collected on Mars hold key to water and perhaps life on the planet. Bring them back to Earth.

the bridk-red planet Mars with white caps at poles

Scientists find oceans of water on Mars. It’s just too deep to tap.

All astronomy and space sciences