Many of the most dramatic cosmic events take the form of explosions, from asteroid impacts to the Big Bang itself. Here are some of the most spectacular examples

It’s a cold, clear February evening on Brighton beach. The sun has not yet dipped below the horizon and the last of the light is that strange, luminescent blue that presages dusk. Hundreds of pairs of

What is a gamma-ray burst? Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are intense sources of high-energy radiation that we detect on Earth in the form of gamma rays. They were first detected in the 1960s by US military

How do astronomers currently think the Universe is expanding? Astronomers have long believed the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, driven by what we call ‘dark energy’. This led to a mode

The year 2025 has been a vintage one for astronomy. In January, we were hooked on reports of a building-sized asteroid on course to collide with Earth. The risk was quickly downgraded from worrying to

The prevailing Nobel Prize-winning theory that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate due to the unseen influence of dark energy has been called into question by a new study. Astronome