About 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang gave rise to everything, everywhere, and everywhen—the entire known Universe. What caused the Big Bang? What happened that first moment at the beginning of ...

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian High Energy Astrophysics division focuses on X-ray astronomy and instrumentation involved in observations of high-energy sources. This research aims ...

The twin Magellan Telescopes in Chile are each 6.5 meter optical telescopes. These telescopes are both equipped with instruments to take images and spectra of light from a wide variety of astronomical ...

Scientists now estimate that there are over a trillion galaxies in the Universe. Many follow broad classification patterns, but no two are exactly alike. The variety of galaxies we see gives us a ...

Understanding the cosmos involves both observation and theory. Observation provides real-world data about how stars, galaxies, and other objects in space behave. Theory connects that data together ...

Our department is young in spirit but has a century-old tradition of exceptional graduate students and faculty. Our teaching and research interests span the entire Universe with exciting observational ...

The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian Theoretical Astrophysics (TA) division uses theoretical models and computer simulations to understand a variety of fundamental astrophysical ...

Using new computational algorithms, scientists have measured a sharp ring of light predicted to originate from photons whipping around the back of a supermassive black hole. Cambridge, MA – When ...

Cambridge, MA -- Signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way galaxy may have been detected for the first time. This intriguing result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, opens up ...

CfA astronomers helped lead a study discovering changes in the bright ring around M87's black hole, confirming the theoretical understanding of the variable and turbulent flow of material around black ...

Cambridge, MA — A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has discovered a rare object far beyond Neptune, from a class known as trans-Neptunian objects, that is ...

Using fast radio bursts to guide them, CfA astronomers have mapped the distribution of the Universe's ordinary matter in the space between galaxies, and detected the most distant fast radio bursts to ...