Galaxies and their central supermassive black holes grew in tandem, the result of countless collisions and mergers between ancient, smaller galaxies. But galaxies sometimes merged without combining their black holes, ejecting some of these objects out into the depths of open space.

We know that the Milky Way is surrounded by an array of satellite galaxies, the largest of which is the rather aptly named Large Magellanic Cloud. But figuring out exactly how far away our cosmic neighbor is has proved fiendishly difficult.

A new discovery could rewrite the history books on the Milky Way. According to a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, our galaxy absorbed a smaller satellite galaxy several million years ago. But more than that, it was a celestial event that culminated in the meeting of each…

Back in June of last year, astronomers working with the Kepler space telescope made the bold proclamation that all stars have planets. While this is all fine-and-well (if not intuitively obvious), what was not known is how many Earth-sized planets are out there. But now, a new analysis of Kepler data may be providing…

On planet Earth, we sit at the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, nestled thousands of light years from the black hole at its center, in the Orion–Cygnus Arm. In our textbooks we see beautiful images of our own celestial neighborhood, a spiral of stars emanating from a galactic core.

It's impossible to capture the scale of our galaxy on your computer screen, but darned if the European Southern Observatory isn't going to try. The observatory has released a 108500×81500 pixel mosaic of the central parts of the Milky Way. You weren't planning on doing anything else with your weekend, right?

For those who like to start their day with something mindblowing: here's your chance to start today with four.

These two galaxies have been slowly merging for eons, and the process is now almost over — indeed, the galaxies now share a single name, NGC 2623. This could be an early preview of our own galaxy's fate.

Remember 55 Cancri e? Sure you do — and if you don't, you should. After all, it may be the first diamond planet ever discovered that orbits a Sun-like star. At least we think it is; if there's one thing 55 Cancri e is good at, it's fooling astronomers into thinking it's something that it's not.

Damn. Just... damn. If you've never been to Joshua Tree National Park or the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California, this jaw-dropping timelapse by filmmaker Henry Jun Wah Lee may be the only incentive you need to schedule a visit.