The Latest Breaking News from the Milky Way

First-light images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have revealed a 163,000-light-year stream of stars emanating from the M61 galaxy, suggesting a violent past.

Michael Steven Harris earned People's Choice at the British Photography Awards for this stacked, long-exposure image

An unexpected monster black hole was found hiding inside one of the Milky Way’s tiniest neighbors, rewriting what scientists thought they knew about how small galaxies hold themselves together.

The Milky Way is a rich and complex environment. We see it as a luminous line stretching across the night sky, composed of innumerable stars.

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered five complex organic molecules trapped in the ice around a star outside our galaxy. This cosmic first hints that the stuff of life may be widespread throughout space.

Perched high in Chile's Andes, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory sees a breathtaking view of the Milky Way's southern arc.

The century-old mystery of dark matter — the invisible glue thought to hold galaxies together — just got a modern clue.

Complex organic molecules, including methanol and ethanol, have been detected outside the Milky Way, using the James Webb Space Telescope.

A mysterious glow at the center of the Milky Way has puzzled astronomers for more than a decade. New research offers an explanation that could also reshape what we know about dark matter.