Paul Sutter, Author at Astronomy.com

Alien Life, Cosmology

Dark energy sheds light on life in the cosmos

How some black holes maintain long-distance relationships

A baby Milky Way may have swallowed a dwarf galaxy named Loki

Artist's rendition of orbital debris around Earth

Human Spaceflight, Robotic Spaceflight, Space Exploration

Small, untrackable pieces of space junk are cluttering low Earth orbit

New study suggests we could give Mars a thicker atmosphere — using dust

Alien Life, Science

Why we aren’t alone in the universe — but might as well be

simulation of merging supermassive black holes

Cosmology, Exotic Objects

How merging black holes could reveal the nature of dark matter

Human Spaceflight, Science, Space Exploration

Ways to achieve interstellar travel, ranked from least to most likely

An artist’s portrayal of a warm Jupiter gas-giant planet (right) in orbit around its parent star, along with smaller companion planets. Credit: Detlev Van Ravenswaay/Science Photo Library

Exoplanets, Observing

Amateur astronomers help ID a ‘warm Jupiter’ exoplanet

PRIMA will measure the absolute and relative abundances of heavy elements where they are formed, deep in the hearts of galaxies. Credit: NASA/Jenny Mottar

Exotic Objects, Robotic Spaceflight

Which came first, galaxies or black holes? This is the plan to find out

The Sun rises slowly spreading a golden glow over Earth in this image taken from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA.

Why good science is needed more than ever, and so is good faith

A map of the celestial hemisphere compiled from data from the eROSITA telescope — the colors reflect the wavelengths of X-rays. Hot gas haloes surrounding galaxy clusters have broad-band emissions (white), as do black holes (white dots); diffuse emissions have long wavelengths (red); and in the central regions of the Milky Way, dust blocks longer-wavelength emissions, so that only short-wavelength X-rays are visible (blue or black).

Cosmology, Science

Dazzling sky survey maps 5,259 galaxy clusters and sheds light on dark matter