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Astronomy

Two telescopes set up on the ground with patches of snow surrounding them, blue sky in the background
Astrophysics
Shining a light on the cosmic dawn
Published June 11, 2025
Small telescopes in Chile are first on Earth to cut through the cosmic noise, peering back more than 13 billion years to the universe's first light
Concept art depicting two white dwarf stars of equal mass but differing temperatures. The hotter white dwarf on the left appears slightly larger and puffier, surrounded by a glowing blue halo, while the cooler white dwarf on the right looks more compact and has a slightly less pronounced halo. The background consists of a dark starry sky with faint nebular patterns.
Astrophysics
Study confirms key details of extreme stellar behavior
Published Dec 18, 2024
Telescope observations of more than 26,000 dying stars match theories of hotter, puffier white dwarfs
A nebula made up of cloudy gas and dust in the form of soft and wispy clouds and, in the centre, thin and highly detailed layers pressed close together. Large, bright stars surrounded by six long points of light are dotted over the image, as well as some small, point-like stars embedded in the clouds. The clouds are lit up in blue close to the stars; orange colours show clouds that glow in infrared light.
Astrophysics
Possible clues to how stars are born
Published Aug 27, 2024
Survey of young star-forming cluster offers evidence that the same cosmic processes that give birth to stars may also play a role in making objects only slightly bigger than Jupiter
Photo of Gilman Hall in which the sun is perfectly aligned with the spire.
Astronomy
Rare 'Hophenge' solar event
Published April 9, 2024
On the evening of the solar eclipse, the Hopkins community enjoyed a second celestial event: "Hophenge," when the sun perfectly aligned with the Gilman Hall spire
A dark sky with a bright orange image of a solar eclipse
Astronomy
Hopkins experts discuss the total solar eclipse
Published April 5, 2024 Video
Panelists encouraged viewers to witness the rare event on April 8 firsthand if possible, and shared the science behind what makes a total solar eclipse so special
Total eclipse of the Sun. The moon covers the sun in a solar eclipse.
Q+A
There goes the sun. Again?
Published March 14, 2024
Just seven years after the last total solar eclipse, millions of Americans will once again be in the path of daytime darkness on April 8
An illustration of how a supermassive blackhole would make stars in the first 50 million years of the universe. The foreground shows stars in the making, gas clouds getting crushed by the black hole’s powerful magnetism. The background shows fully formed stars. A spiral of dust and gas revolving like a storm around the black hole also is shown. Also, the black hole shoots out plasma and energy upwards from the center of this storm.
Astrophysics
Which came first: black holes or galaxies?
Published Feb 6, 2024
Black holes not only existed at the dawn of time, they birthed new stars and supercharged galaxy formation, a new analysis of James Webb Space Telescope data suggests
An illustration shows two water-rich exoplanets with heavy layers of haze orbiting their host star in outer space.
Exoplanets
Clearer views of distant water worlds
Published Nov 27, 2023
Research by Hopkins scientists will help model how water exoplanets form and evolve—findings that could help in the search for life beyond our solar system
Samuel Durrance
In Memoriam
Enterprising astronomer, space researcher Samuel Durrance dies at 79
Published May 10, 2023
Durrance, a Johns Hopkins research scientist from 1980 to 1997, made influential contributions to the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope and flew on two NASA missions as a payload specialist
A map of the universe
Astronomy
This new interactive map lets you scroll through the universe
Published Nov 17, 2022 Video
New map of the universe displays for the first time the span of the entire known cosmos with pinpoint accuracy, sweeping beauty