Optics

Almost everything we know about the cosmos is conveyed by photons traveling across vast distances

The human brain loves seeing patterns, even when they aren’t really there

Giant bubbles erupting across this red supergiant star’s surface could solve a lingering astrophysical mystery

Polarized light from Sagittarius A*, our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, shows swirling magnetic fields that may hint at the presence of an unseen jet

A nova called T Coronae Borealis spectacularly erupts every 80 years. Your only chance to see it will come any day now

A new technique to make electronic fibers could help solve wearable technology’s flexibility problem

The edge of the world is closer than you think, and simple geometry proves it

A forthcoming investigational report from an office of the Pentagon has found no evidence of aliens, only allegations circulated repeatedly by UFO claim advocates

A serendipitously discovered object nearly as massive as the Milky Way appears to be made of primordial gas that has formed almost no stars

A new analysis finds that images from Voyager 2's close encounter with Neptune show the planet as being far too blue

Ice crystals suspended in the air put on a gorgeous show if you know when and where to look

Light can be reflected not only in space but also in time—and researchers exploring such “time reflections” are finding a wealth of delightfully odd and useful effects