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Some of the greatest cosmic discoveries have come about by accident

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Some of the greatest cosmic discoveries have come about by accident

The universe has been surprising us ever since we first looked into the cosmic darkness. We should embrace serendipity in science, says Chris Lintott

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A legendary cosmologist on how to find a deeper theory of the universe

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A legendary cosmologist on how to find a deeper theory of the universe

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Wolf-Rayet stars are known to be efficient dust producers, and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA?s James Webb Space Telescope shows this to great effect. Cooler cosmic dust glows at the longer mid-infrared wavelengths, displaying the structure of WR 124?s nebula. The nebula is made of material cast off from the aging star in random ejections, and from dust produced in the ensuing turbulence. This brilliant stage of mass loss precedes the star?s eventual supernova, when nuclear fusion in its core stops and the pressure of gravity causes it to collapse in on itself, and then explode. As MIRI demonstrates here, Webb will help astronomers to explore questions that were previously only left to theory about how much dust stars like this create before exploding in a supernova, and how much of that dust is large enough to survive the blast and go on to serve as building blocks of future stars and planets.

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How galactic mysteries near and far are poised to shake up cosmology

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Beatriz Nascimento Afro-Brazilian academic and activist

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Two books to write and the universe to decipher – 2024’s gonna be busy

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Abell 370 is a distant collection of several hundred galaxies

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Weird cosmic clumping hints our understanding of the universe is wrong

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The Horsehead Nebula

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Euclid space telescope releases its first stunning full-colour images

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Space

Oddly bright burst may mean space is more transparent than we thought

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The quantum experiment that could help find evidence of the multiverse

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The quantum experiment that could help find evidence of the multiverse

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Space

How the end of the universe was completely rewritten

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The universe gets clumpier over time

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The universe’s evolution seems to be slowing and we don’t know why

The development of cosmic structure – the huge strands of galaxies and caverns of emptiness that make up our universe – seems to be slowing down more than expected. That could mean there is something wrong with our understanding of the universe

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Space

The gravitational waves that could shed light on the cosmic dark age

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Space

A guide to cosmic fireworks, from stellar flares to black-hole beacons

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Space

We may have finally figured out how galaxy-scale magnetic fields arose

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Space

Time appears to run five times slower in the early universe

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